Hiragana Ha Hi Fu He Ho (はひふへほ): How to Read and Write the H Row

You're learning hiragana one row at a time. Now you come across words like はな (hana, "flower") and ほし (hoshi, "star"), but the first characters look surprisingly similar.

Let's learn five more hiragana so you can read these words without guessing.

The short answer

The hiragana H row contains は (ha), ひ (hi), ふ (fu), へ (he), and ほ (ho). Each represents a different Japanese sound, and learning their shapes will help you recognise everyday words.

Notice that the third character is written ふ (fu), not a character with the usual English-letter reading "hu."

は (ha)

Start with は (ha). You'll find it at the beginning of はな (hana), meaning "flower" or "nose."

Look carefully at は. It has a vertical stroke on the left and a curved shape on the right, with a small loop near the bottom.

When writing it, keep the left stroke separate from the right side.

You'll soon meet another character that looks similar, so remember that は has one horizontal stroke crossing the right-hand part.

ひ (hi)

Next is ひ (hi).

This character appears in ひと (hito), meaning "person."

Unlike は, ひ is written with one continuous stroke.

Its shape curves downward through the middle before rising toward the right. Notice the open space above the lower curve.

Try writing it without lifting your pen.

ふ (fu)

The third character is ふ (fu).

You'll see it in ふね (fune), meaning "boat" or "ship."

The standard written form of ふ has four strokes.

Notice the small mark at the top, the larger curved stroke beneath it, and the two shorter marks on either side.

Those separate marks matter when you're learning to write the character.

Although ふ belongs to the H row, its usual beginner romaji spelling is fu. Its pronunciation also differs somewhat from English "foo," but for this lesson, concentrate on recognising and writing the character.

へ (he)

Now meet へ (he).

This is one of the simplest hiragana to write. It has a single stroke that rises to a peak and then slopes downward.

You'll find it in へや (heya), meaning "room."

The second character, や (ya), belongs to a later hiragana row. For now, concentrate on recognising へ.

When writing へ, make the right side longer than the left.

One detail worth remembering: へ is read he in ordinary words like へや, but when used as a particle marking direction, it is pronounced e. The character itself doesn't change.

ほ (ho)

The final character is ほ (ho).

You'll find it in ほし (hoshi), meaning "star."

Look closely at ほ.

Does it remind you of は (ha)?

Both have a vertical stroke on the left and a curved shape on the right. But there's one useful difference.

ほ has two horizontal strokes on the right, while は has one.

Compare them:

When writing ほ, don't forget the extra horizontal stroke.

This small distinction will help you avoid confusing the two characters when reading.

Read the row in any order

You've now met all five characters.

First, read them in their usual order.

Now try a different order.

And one more:

Could you recognise each character immediately?

If you had to mentally recite the entire row to identify one character, practise the individual shapes again.

The goal is to see ほ and recognise ho without starting from は.

Read real Japanese words

Now let's use your new characters inside complete Japanese words.

Start with the five words you've already met.

Notice how each word begins with a different H-row character.

You already know many of the remaining characters from earlier lessons. That means you're beginning to combine different hiragana rows to read complete words.

Try reading the five words again without looking at the romaji.

Common mistakes

• Confusing は and ほ. Both characters have similar shapes, but ほ has an additional horizontal stroke. Compare them carefully when reading はな (hana) and ほし (hoshi).
• Reading へ as "e" everywhere. The character is pronounced he in words like へや (heya). It is pronounced e when functioning as the direction particle.
• Writing ふ as one continuous shape. Standard handwritten ふ has four separate strokes. Pay attention to the smaller marks rather than copying its overall outline.

Practise はひふへほ

Start by covering the romaji in the examples above.

Read the five characters aloud in mixed order, then write each one from memory.

Next, write the hiragana for these sounds without looking back: ha, fu, ho, hi, he.

Pay particular attention to は (ha) and ほ (ho). Check that you've included the correct number of horizontal strokes.

Finally, write three complete words from memory: はな (hana, "flower"), ふね (fune, "boat"), and ほし (hoshi, "star").

Read each word aloud after writing it.

Keep this in mind

The hiragana H row is は (ha), ひ (hi), ふ (fu), へ (he), and ほ (ho). Remember the unusual fu reading and the extra horizontal stroke that distinguishes ほ from は.

Practise recognising each character independently, then read it inside real Japanese words.