第11課Lesson 11 of 16

Voiced sounds: G and Z

The same two small strokes you met in hiragana (dakuten, ゛) work here: k becomes g and s becomes z.

ガギグゲゴザジズゼゾ

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Pronunciation

How it sounds

Voiced sounds buzz in your throat: rest a fingertip there and feel g and z turn on. g is always hard, as in go. ジ is jee and also spells the English j and soft g: orange is オレンジ.

Reading tips

Easy to mix up

  • The two marks sit at the top right and never change the base shape. If you know カ, you know ガ.

  • ジ is built on シ, so the シ and ツ rule still applies: next lesson's ヅ is built on ツ.

New kana

Picture each shape, then say it.

ガga

カ with two dots: ga.

ギgi

キ with two dots: gi.

グgu

ク with two dots: gu.

ゲge

ケ with two dots: ge.

ゴgo

コ with two dots: go.

ザza

サ with two dots: za.

ジji

シ with two dots: ji, like "jee".

ズzu

ス with two dots: zu.

ゼze

セ with two dots: ze.

ゾzo

ソ with two dots: zo.

Real vocabulary

Words you can read now

  • ゲームgēmugame
  • チーズchīzucheese
  • ギターgitāguitar
  • ゴルフgorufugolf
  • オレンジorenjiorange
  • ゼロzerozero
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