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Usage of Japanese Scripts

• There are 3 Japanese scripts : Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji. Mostof the Japanese sentences are written in Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji, all three.
• Hiragana is used for the endings of verbs and for grammatical particles.
• Katakanais used for transcription of words borrowed from foreign languages(except Chinese), like country names, personal names, etc.
• Both Hiragana and Katakana letters are phonetic representations of sound, representing exactly the same set of sounds.
• Kanji, which is a set of Chinese characters called sinograms, is used for the nouns and the radicals of verbs.
• The Hiragana script has a Kanji equivalent (excepts the endings of verbs and the particles).
• The Katakana script does not have a Kanji equivalent.
• Whereas Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic representations of sound, Kanji conveys sounds as well as meanings.
• A sentence in Japanese can be written in Hiragana and Katakana only (without Kanji).
• Romaji (Roman letters) is simply the transliteration of  Japanese in the Latin script. It is sometimes used for the convenience of foreigners, mostly on sign-boards and at stations.
• The Romaji vowelsā, ī, ū, ē signify emphasis, and hence are also written asaa, ii, uu et ee. ex. īe = iie
• The vowel ō becomes ou and not oo ex. gakkō = gakkou
• In Katakana, the emphasis on the vowel signifies a long sound written as ー. ex. nōto (notebook), will be written in katakana as : ノート

Example. The sentence 'Is there is a computer in your classroom?' is written in :

Japanese Romaji :Anata no kyōshitsu ni konpyūta ga arimasu ka? ;

Japanese traditional (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) : あなた の教室にコンピュータがありますか。; where
Kanji = 教室 (kyōshitsu = classroom) ; Katakana = コンピュータ(konpyūta = computer) and the rest is Hiragana.
Note that the question mark ? is omitted.

Japanese Hiragana and Katakana (without Kanji) : あなた のきょうしつにコンピュータがありますか。
Note - The Kanji in the sentence written in Japanese traditional, 教室 is replaced by its hiragana equivalent きょうしつ.

Romaji Vocabulary  Hiragana Vocabulary   Katakana Vocabulary  Kanji Vocabulary  

Hiragana Alphabets   Katakana Alphabets   Kanji Characters Tables

• bag    : kaban
  -  Hiragana : かばん ;  Kanji : 鞄
  
  
• book  : hon
  -  Hiragana : ほん ;  Kanji : 本
  
  
• chair  : isu
  -  Hiragana : いす ;  Kanji : 椅子
  
  
• chalk  : hakuboku
  -  Hiragana : はくぼく ;  Kanji : 白墨
  
  
• desk  : tsukue
  -  Hiragana : つくえ ;  Kanji : 机
  
  
• eraser  : keshigomu
  -  Hiragana / Katakana : けしゴム ;  Kanji : 消しゴム
  
  
• notebook  : nouto, nōto
  -  Katakana : ノート 
  
  
• pen  : pen
  -  Katakana : ペン 
  
  
• pencil  : enpitsu
  -  Hiragana : えんぴつ ;  Kanji : 鉛筆
  
  
• paper  : kami
  -  Hiragana : かみ ;  Kanji : 紙
  
  
• satchel  : tsuugakukaban, tsūgakukaban
  -  Hiragana : つうがくかばん ;  Kanji : 通学鞄
  
  
• sharpener  : enpitsukezuri
  -  Hiragana : えんぴつけずり ;  Kanji : 鉛筆削り
  
  
• textbook   : kyoukasho, kyōkasho
  -  Hiragana : きょうかしょ ;  Kanji : 教科書
  
  

• answer  : kotae
  - Hiragana : こたえ ;  Kanji : 答え
  
  
• classmate  : doukyuusei, dōkyūsei
  - Hiragana : どうきゅうせい ;  Kanji : 同級生
  
  
• classroom  : kyoushitsu, kyōshitsu
  - Hiragana : きょうしつ ;  Kanji : 教室
  
  
• correction  : kyousei, kyōsei
  - Hiragana : きょうせい ;  Kanji : 矯正
  
  
• examination  : shiken
  - Hiragana : しけん ;  Kanji : 試験
  
  
• grade  : kaikyuu, kaikyū
  - Hiragana : かいきゅう ;  Kanji : 階級
  
  
• homework  : shukudai
  - Hiragana : しゅくだい ;  Kanji : 宿題
  
  
• lesson  : gakka
  - Hiragana : がっか ;  Kanji : 学課
  
  
• library  : toshokan
  - Hiragana : としょかん ;  Kanji : 図書館
  
  
• mark  : tensuu, tensū
  - Hiragana : てんすう ;  Kanji : 点数
  
  
• question  : mondai
  - Hiragana : もんだい ;  Kanji : 問題
  
  
• read  : yomu
  - Hiragana : よむ ;  Kanji : 読む
  
  
• school  : gakkou, gakkō
  - Hiragana : がっこう ;  Kanji : 学校
  
  
• study (verb)  : benkyou shimasu, benkyō shimasu
  - Hiragana : べんきょうする ;  Kanji : 勉強する
  
  
• study (noun)  : gaku
  - Hiragana : がく ;  Kanji : 学
  
  
• student  : gakusei
  - Hiragana : がくせい ;  Kanji : 学生
  
  
• studious  : benkyouka, benkyōka
  - Hiragana : べんきょうか ;  Kanji : 勉強家
  
  
• teach  : shikomu
  - Hiragana : しこむ ;  Kanji : 仕込む
  
  
• teacher  : sensei
  - Hiragana : せんせい ;  Kanji : 先生
  
  
• teaching  : kyouiku,  kyōiku
  - Hiragana : きょういく ;  Kanji : 教育
  
  
• text  : tekisuto
  - Katakana : テキスト 
  
  
• write  : kaku
  - Hiragana : かく ;  Kanji : 書く
  
  

Try the Quiz : CLASSROOM (KYŌSHITSU)