Lesson 11 of 16
Voiced sounds: G and Z
Two small strokes (called dakuten, ゛) beside a kana make it voiced: k becomes g and s becomes z. You already know the shapes. Just add the marks!
Pronunciation
How it sounds
Voiced sounds use your voice box: rest a fingertip on your throat and you'll feel a buzz for g and z that is missing for k and s. g is always hard, as in go, never as in gem. じ sounds like jee, and ず is zu. Many speakers soften g to a gentle ng in the middle of a word.
Reading tips
Easy to mix up
The two marks always sit at the top right and never change the base shape. If you know か, you know が.
じ and ず also have look-alikes, ぢ and づ, in the next lesson. They sound identical, and じ and ず are used almost every time.
か with two dots: ga.
き with two dots: gi.
く with two dots: gu.
け with two dots: ge.
こ with two dots: go.
さ with two dots: za.
し with two dots: ji, like "jee".
す with two dots: zu.
せ with two dots: ze.
そ with two dots: zo.
Real vocabulary
Words you can read now
かぎ
kagi
key
かぜ
kaze
wind, a cold
ごはん
gohan
cooked rice, a meal
すずめ
suzume
sparrow
まじめ
majime
serious
ぞう
zō
elephant