Reading Practice

You know the characters. You know the modifiers. Now read real Japanese.

This page starts with short words and builds to greetings and full sentences, all in hiragana with no kanji. Read each word aloud before you check the meaning. Perfection is not the point. The point is building the reflex of seeing hiragana and hearing Japanese in your head. Level 3 sentences will feel slow at first. That is normal.

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Reading tips

Before diving in, keep these habits in mind:

1. Read left to right, one character at a time. Japanese can also be written vertically (top to bottom, right to left), but modern text on websites, subtitles, and signs is overwhelmingly horizontal.
2. One character equals one beat. Count mora as you read: さくら = sa-ku-ra (3 beats).
3. Look for patterns. The ending ます (masu) marks polite verbs. The ending です (desu) marks polite statements. Particles like は, を, and に appear constantly. Learn to spot them even before you study grammar.
4. Guess from Mandarin first. Many Japanese words share roots with Chinese. Try reading a word as if it were Mandarin. You will be surprised how often you are right.
5. Do not panic over small っ or long vowels. Pause at っ, stretch long vowels, and move on. Speed comes with repetition.

Memory trick 記憶のコツ

Set a daily 5-minute reading timer. Open this page, pick a section, and read every word aloud without looking at the answers. Track which categories feel easy (food and nature often overlap with Mandarin) and which need work (grammar endings, native Japanese words with no Chinese root). Focus your energy where it counts.

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Level 1: Simple words (2–3 characters)

Start here. These are short, common, mostly native Japanese words, good for building reading speed.

さくら

sa-ku-ra

cherry blossom 🌸

すし

su-shi

sushi

ねこ

ne-ko

cat

いぬ

i-nu

dog

やま

ya-ma

mountain

かわ

ka-wa

river

うみ

u-mi

sea

て

te

hand

め

me

eye

あめ

a-me

rain (also: candy, same pronunciation, different kanji)

Several Level 1 words share Chinese roots: やま (山 yama) = 山 (shān), かわ (川 kawa) = 川 (chuān), うみ (海 umi) = 海 (hǎi), て (手 te) = 手 (shǒu), め (目 me) = 目 (mù), あめ (雨 ame) = 雨 (yǔ). Even at this level, Mandarin gives you a head start.

How many mora (beats) are in さくら?

A. 3 (sa-ku-ra)B. 2 (sa-kura)C. 4D. 5

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Level 2: Everyday words and greetings

These are words you will hear and use in daily life: greetings, polite expressions, and common nouns.

Greetings

おはよう

o-ha-yo-u

Good morning (casual). Add ございます for polite form.

▶Listen ▶Listen ▶Listen

こんにちは

kon-ni-chi-wa

Hello / Good afternoon. Note: は is pronounced “wa” here (topic particle).

こんばんは

kon-ban-wa

Good evening. Again, は = “wa.”

ありがとう

a-ri-ga-to-u

Thank you. Add ございます for polite form.

すみません

su-mi-ma-sen

Excuse me / I’m sorry / Thank you (for a favor). The Swiss Army knife of Japanese phrases.

さようなら

sa-yo-u-na-ra

Goodbye (formal, implies long separation).

いただきます

i-ta-da-ki-ma-su

Said before eating (“I humbly receive this meal”).

ごちそうさまでした

go-chi-so-u-sa-ma-de-shi-ta

Said after eating (“That was a feast”).

Culture 文化メモ

いただきます and ごちそうさまでした express gratitude to everyone involved in the meal: the cook, the farmers, the animals, the earth. Japanese people say these even when eating alone. They are a straightforward way to show cultural respect from early on.

In こんにちは (hello), why is は pronounced 'wa'?

A. It is the topic particle, not part of the wordB. It is a dakuten exceptionC. It is borrowed from EnglishD. All は characters are always 'wa'

Everyday nouns

ともだち

to-mo-da-chi

friend (友 + 達)

でんわ

den-wa

telephone (電話)

がっこう

gak-ko-u

school (学校). Note the small っ!

おかね

o-ka-ne

money (お金)

たべもの

ta-be-mo-no

food (食べ物)

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Level 3: Simple sentences (hiragana only)

Read these full sentences. Do not worry about grammar yet. Just read aloud and check the translation. Longer sentences like にほんごをべんきょうしています may take several passes. That is expected.

わたしはねこがすきです。

wa-ta-shi wa ne-ko ga su-ki de-su.

I like cats.

これはほんです。

ko-re wa hon de-su.

This is a book.

おはようございます。

o-ha-yo-u go-za-i-ma-su.

Good morning (polite).

にほんごをべんきょうしています。

ni-hon-go o ben-kyo-u shi-te i-ma-su.

I am studying Japanese.

さくらがきれいです。

sa-ku-ra ga ki-re-i de-su.

The cherry blossoms are beautiful.

すみません、トイレはどこですか。

su-mi-ma-sen, to-i-re wa do-ko de-su ka.

Excuse me, where is the toilet?

▶Listen ▶Listen

いってきます。

i-tte ki-ma-su.

I’m leaving! (said when leaving home)

いってらっしゃい。

i-tte-rassha-i.

Take care! / See you! (response to いってきます)

Memory trick 記憶のコツ

Spot the sentence skeleton: [topic] は … です (X is Y). Every sentence above follows this pattern. は marks the topic (pronounced “wa”), です ends the statement politely. Once you see this frame, reading sentences becomes fill-in-the-blank.

Several sentence words have Chinese roots: ほん (本 hon) = 书 (book), べんきょう (勉強) = 学习 (study), きれい (綺麗) = 漂亮 (beautiful/pretty). どこ (where) has no direct Mandarin match, but どこですか follows the same pattern as 在哪里 (zài nǎlǐ).

What pattern do most Level 3 sentences follow?

A. [topic] は ... ですB. [subject] が ... ます onlyC. Verb first, then topicD. No fixed pattern

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Words you can already guess

These Japanese words were built from Chinese concepts. Read the hiragana, think Mandarin, and the meaning often appears:

Hiragana	Romaji	Mandarin connection	Meaning
べんきょう	benkyō	勉强 → 学习	study
しごと	shigoto	仕事 (simplified 事)	work
せいかつ	seikatsu	生活	life, living
れきし	rekishi	历史	history
しぜん	shizen	自然	nature
ぶんか	bunka	文化	culture
けいざい	keizai	经济	economy
せかい	sekai	世界	world
じかん	jikan	时间	time
もんだい	mondai	问题	problem
ちゅうごく	chūgoku	中国	China
にほん	nihon	日本	Japan
せんせい	sensei	先生	teacher
がくせい	gakusei	学生	student
びょういん	byōin	医院 (病 + 院)	hospital

Mandarin bridge 中文橋

This table is especially useful if you read Mandarin. When you encounter a long hiragana word in the wild, chunk it into kanji-sized pieces in your mind. けいざい → 经济. せかい → 世界. You already know much of this vocabulary. The remaining work is mostly learning pronunciation.

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Practice words by category

Cover the answers, read the hiragana aloud, then expand each section to check yourself.

🍜 Food (6 words)

Click to reveal meanings

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
ごはん	gohan	rice / meal
みず	mizu	water
さかな	sakana	fish
くだもの	kudamono	fruit
たまご	tamago	egg
おちゃ	ocha	tea

Try reading them first:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
ごはん	?	?
みず	?	?
さかな	?	?
くだもの	?	?
たまご	?	?
おちゃ	?	?

Four of six food words have direct Mandarin character matches: みず (水), さかな (魚, though 酒 also exists), おちゃ (茶), たまご (卵). ごはん (meal/rice) and くだもの (果物, fruit) use native or compound readings, but the kanji are still familiar.

🐾 Animals (6 words)

Click to reveal meanings

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
ねこ	neko	cat
いぬ	inu	dog
とり	tori	bird
うし	ushi	cow
うま	uma	horse
さかな	sakana	fish

Try reading them first:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
ねこ	?	?
いぬ	?	?
とり	?	?
うし	?	?
うま	?	?
さかな	?	?

Memory trick 記憶のコツ

とり (鳥 bird), うし (牛 cow), and うま (馬 horse) map cleanly to kanji. ねこ (猫) and いぬ (犬) match 猫 and 犬 in Mandarin. Picture each animal wearing its kanji on a name tag.

🌿 Nature (6 words)

Click to reveal meanings

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
やま	yama	mountain
かわ	kawa	river
うみ	umi	sea
もり	mori	forest
はな	hana	flower
あめ	ame	rain

Try reading them first:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
やま	?	?
かわ	?	?
うみ	?	?
もり	?	?
はな	?	?
あめ	?	?

Every nature word here maps to a kanji you likely know: 山, 川, 海, 森, 花, 雨. This category should feel like reading Mandarin in a different script.

🏠 Daily life (6 words)

Click to reveal meanings

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
いえ	ie	house, home
へや	heya	room
まど	mado	window
ドア	doa	door (loanword)
でんき	denki	electricity, light
かばん	kaban	bag

Try reading them first:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
いえ	?	?
へや	?	?
まど	?	?
ドア	?	?
でんき	?	?
かばん	?	?

いえ (家 house), へや (部屋 room), まど (窓 window), and でんき (電気 electricity) all have Mandarin connections. かばん comes from Dutch kapitan via Portuguese, so English “bag” or “cabinet” may help more than Mandarin. ドア is a katakana loanword from English “door”; you will cover katakana in the next section.

👋 Greetings and expressions (6 words)

Click to reveal meanings

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
おはよう	ohayō	good morning
ありがとう	arigatō	thank you
すみません	sumimasen	excuse me / sorry
おねがいします	onegaishimasu	please
はい	hai	yes
いいえ	iie	no

Try reading them first:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
おはよう	?	?
ありがとう	?	?
すみません	?	?
おねがいします	?	?
はい	?	?
いいえ	?	?

Culture 文化メモ

はい and いいえ look simple, but Japanese speakers often avoid a direct “no.” Instead of いいえ, you may hear ちょっと… (“well, that’s a little…”) or silence. おねがいします (please) appears constantly when ordering, requesting, or accepting something.

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Full answer key

All 30 practice words in one place:

#	Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning	Category
1	ごはん	gohan	rice / meal	Food
2	みず	mizu	water	Food
3	さかな	sakana	fish	Food
4	くだもの	kudamono	fruit	Food
5	たまご	tamago	egg	Food
6	おちゃ	ocha	tea	Food
7	ねこ	neko	cat	Animals
8	いぬ	inu	dog	Animals
9	とり	tori	bird	Animals
10	うし	ushi	cow	Animals
11	うま	uma	horse	Animals
12	さかな	sakana	fish	Animals
13	やま	yama	mountain	Nature
14	かわ	kawa	river	Nature
15	うみ	umi	sea	Nature
16	もり	mori	forest	Nature
17	はな	hana	flower	Nature
18	あめ	ame	rain	Nature
19	いえ	ie	house	Daily life
20	へや	heya	room	Daily life
21	まど	mado	window	Daily life
22	ドア	doa	door	Daily life
23	でんき	denki	electricity	Daily life
24	かばん	kaban	bag	Daily life
25	おはよう	ohayō	good morning	Greetings
26	ありがとう	arigatō	thank you	Greetings
27	すみません	sumimasen	excuse me / sorry	Greetings
28	おねがいします	onegaishimasu	please	Greetings
29	はい	hai	yes	Greetings
30	いいえ	iie	no	Greetings

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Self-test: Can you read these?

Cover the right column. Read aloud, then check:

Hiragana	Meaning
にほんご	Japanese language
きょうと	Kyoto
おおさか	Osaka
たのしい	fun, enjoyable
おいしい	delicious
あたらしい	new
ちいさい	small
おおきい	big
あたたかい	warm
つめたい	cold (to the touch)

Reveal answers

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
にほんご	nihongo	Japanese language (日本語)
きょうと	Kyōto	Kyoto (京都)
おおさか	Ōsaka	Osaka (大阪)
たのしい	tanoshii	fun, enjoyable
おいしい	oishii	delicious
あたらしい	atarashii	new (新しい)
ちいさい	chiisai	small (小さい)
おおきい	ōkii	big (大きい)
あたたかい	atatakai	warm
つめたい	tsumetai	cold (to the touch)

False friend 偽りの友

あたらしい (new) contains 新, the same character as Mandarin 新 (xīn). あたたかい (warm) and あつい (hot) are native Japanese words with no Mandarin shortcut. Native words like たのしい (fun) and おいしい (delicious) mostly need repetition.

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What comes next

You can read hiragana now. Real Japanese text still mixes kanji and katakana, but every sentence uses hiragana for particles, verb endings, and many native words. Japanese children learn hiragana before kanji or katakana, so you have cleared the first script hurdle.

Your next lesson is katakana, the other phonetic alphabet. It uses different shapes for the same sounds. For English speakers, a large share of katakana vocabulary comes from loanwords (コーヒー, コンピューター).

Until then, pick one practice habit and stick with it for a week: read furigana in manga, switch one app to Japanese, or label five objects in your room with hiragana. Return to the self-test section above and note which words still slow you down.

What does すみません mean, and why is it useful?

Think about it... then click to reveal

Key takeaways

• Reading hiragana aloud builds the reflex of seeing script and hearing Japanese in your head
• Many everyday words share Chinese roots — guess from Mandarin first, then check
• Particles like は (wa), を (o), and endings like です and ます appear in almost every sentence
• You are ready for katakana — the other phonetic alphabet with the same sounds, different shapes

Mark as CompleteNext: Katakana: The 46 Characters →