第13課Lesson 13 of 16
Puffs of air: P
A small circle (handakuten, ゜) turns the h row into the p row. These are far more common in katakana than in hiragana, because so many borrowed words have a p in them.
パピプペポ
All lessonsPronunciation
How it sounds
p is a crisp puff, like the p in pen. Katakana is where you will meet it most, since native Japanese words rarely have a p but borrowed ones often do. パン, bread, came from Portuguese long before English loans arrived.
Reading tips
Easy to mix up
A circle means p and two dashes mean b: パ versus バ. The circle appears only on the h row.
ペ and ヘ are also close to hiragana ぺ and へ. Context tells you which script you're reading.
New kana
Picture each shape, then say it.
パpa
ハ with a circle: pa.
ピpi
ヒ with a circle: pi.
プpu
フ with a circle: pu.
ペpe
ヘ with a circle: pe.
ポpo
ホ with a circle: po.
Real vocabulary
Words you can read now
- パンpanbread
- ピアノpianopiano
- プールpūruswimming pool
- ペンpenpen
- ポストposutomailbox
- ピザpizapizza