Hiragana S Row: How to Read and Write さしすせそ (Sa Shi Su Se So)

You already know the five vowel sounds:

Now you meet the next hiragana row, which adds an s sound in front of each of those vowels:

The short answer

Four characters follow the pattern you might expect. One does not: し is read shi, not “si.” That is the key thing to notice in this row.

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to recognize さしすせそ (sa shi su se so) in any order, write them from memory, and read simple words such as すし (sushi) and あさ (asa) without depending on romaji.

さ (sa)

The first character is さ (sa). You can see it in あさ, “morning,” and さかな, “fish”:

Break down あさ (asa): it is あ (a) plus さ (sa).

Now read the character on its own, then inside both words:

When you see さ, read sa. You do not need to know か (ka) and な (na) yet to spot the さ at the start of さかな (sakana).

し (shi)

The second character is the important exception in this row: し (shi), not “si.”

Say it like English “she,” but without pushing your lips forward or rounding them much. It should not sound like English “sea.”

You can see it in a word you probably already know, and in two more:

Read them together, starting with the kana on its own:

If you were expecting the row to be “sa, si, su, se, so,” correct that expectation now. The standard beginner reading is sa, shi, su, se, so. You may sometimes see “si” in other romanization systems, but the sound is still shi.

し also has a long life ahead of it: with small ゃ, ゅ and ょ it makes しゃ (sha), しゅ (shu) and しょ (sho), which you can learn in combination hiragana.

す (su)

The third character is す (su). You already saw it in すし (sushi). Break the word into its two kana: す (su) plus し (shi).

This is a useful first word because both characters come from today’s row. Try reading it again without looking at the romaji: すし.

Now reverse the kana and notice that the result is not the same word:

That is no longer sushi. Recognition needs to work character by character, not from the overall shape of a familiar word.

You will also hear す at the end of です (desu) and ます (masu), where the u is often so quiet that it sounds like “dess” and “mass.” That is covered in how to pronounce desu and masu.

せ (se)

The fourth character is せ (se). You can see it in せかい (sekai), “world,” and the familiar beginner word せんせい (sensei), “teacher.”

Look at the beginning, せん (sen): the first character is せ (se). Read the kana on its own, then inside both words:

You do not need to master every character in せんせい (sensei) yet. The useful skill today is spotting せ when it appears inside a longer word. (The ん in the middle has a beat of its own, which you can practise in how to pronounce ん.)

そ (so)

The fifth character is そ (so). You can see it in そと (soto), “outside.”

When you see そ, read so.

Read the row in any order

Now put all five together and say them in order:

Notice the pattern around し. The vowel order underneath the row is still a, i, u, e, o, but the i-position is pronounced shi.

So do not “correct” し (shi) into “si” just to make the row look more regular. The full kana chart shows the same thing: sa, shi, su, se, so.

If you always practise さしすせそ in order, you may become good at reciting the row without actually recognizing each character. Shuffle them:

Cover the romaji line and read each set aloud before checking. If shuffled order feels much harder, keep practising recognition before adding more kana.

Read your first words

Look at すし without looking at the romaji. The first character is す, read su. The second character is し, read shi. Together:

You have read a complete Japanese word using only two characters from today’s row.

Now write it from sound. You hear “su” plus “shi.” Which kana do you need? The answer is す plus し, which gives すし (sushi).

Now try しお. You already know し (shi), and if you know the vowel kana, you know お (o). Put them together:

This is why learning kana in small groups becomes useful quickly. New rows combine with characters you already know to unlock complete words.

Try あさ. You know あ (a) and now さ (sa):

Now compare あさ (asa) and しお (shio). You are no longer reading a memorized row. You are retrieving individual kana inside words. That is the skill you want.

Mix the S row with the vowel row

Now combine today’s row with the vowels あ, い, う, え and お (a, i, u, e, o). Read each line, then check:

Now read these words. Every one of them uses only the vowel row and the S row:

In おいしい (oishii), the い at the end makes the i sound twice as long, so the word has four beats: お・い・し・い (o-i-shi-i). Holding that sound is the skill behind Japanese long vowels.

This is the point of learning a row: each new group increases the number of real words you can read with characters you already know. いす (isu), “chair,” is one you could not read before today.

Common mistakes

Writing “si” and searching for a different kana

Because the row follows a, i, u, e, o, you might expect sa, si, su, se, so. But the kana in the i-position is し (shi). So if you want to write sushi, use す plus し, not some imagined separate “si” character. There isn’t one.

Remember the row as it really is:

Recognizing すし only as one shape

If you have seen the word すし (sushi) many times, you may recognize the whole word without being able to identify its characters separately. Test yourself.

What is the first kana? す (su). What is the second? し (shi).

Now look at them separately. Seeing し on its own, can you still read shi? Seeing す on its own, can you still read su?

If yes, you are learning the kana rather than memorizing the appearance of one word.

Confusing さ and き

As you learn more hiragana, さ (sa) and き (ki) can be easy to mix up. Both have a crossbar at the top and a curve at the bottom, and in handwriting and textbook style the bottom curve of both is a separate stroke (some fonts join it up). The quick check: き has two lines across the top, さ has one.

Later you will also meet ち (chi), which looks like a mirror image of さ: さ’s curve opens to the left, ち’s opens to the right.

Do not identify a kana from a vague impression such as “the one with several lines.” Learn the whole character as a sound-shape pair.

Confusing し and つ

Another pair beginners sometimes blur is し (shi) and つ (tsu), because both are a single curved stroke. し goes straight down and curves up to the right, while つ starts on the left, arcs across to the right and curls back down. (Their katakana versions, シ (shi) and ツ (tsu), are an even more famous lookalike pair.)

For now, make し (shi) familiar through words you can retrieve quickly: すし (sushi), しお (shio) and あし (ashi).

When you later meet つ (tsu), compare them directly rather than trying to remember both as “the curved one.” The goal is immediate recognition: when you see し, you read shi straight away.

Practise the S row

Write from memory, not by copying

You can copy a row like this:

But copying does not prove that you can produce さ when you need it. Instead, look at さ (sa), then hide it. Ask yourself, “How do I write sa?” Your answer should be さ.

Repeat with the others. Write shi, and check that you wrote し. Write su, and check す. Write se, and check せ. Write so, and check そ.

When you check, also count the strokes. In the standard textbook form, さ (sa) has three strokes, し (shi) one, す (su) two, せ (se) three and そ (so) one.

If one character disappears from memory, look at it again, hide it, and retry. The useful skill is retrieval, not filling a page with copies.

Recognition practice

Read each set of kana before checking the romaji line beneath it:

Then choose the right kana for each sound:

1. Choose shi: A. す　B. し　C. そ
2. Choose se: A. せ　B. さ　C. す
3. Choose so: A. し　B. そ　C. さ
4. Choose sa: A. せ　B. す　C. さ

Answers

Answer: B. し (shi). A is す (su) and C is そ (so).

Answer: A. せ (se). B is さ (sa) and C is す (su).

Answer: B. そ (so). A is し (shi) and C is さ (sa).

Answer: C. さ (sa). A is せ (se) and B is す (su).

Read the words

Read each word before checking the romaji:

Now try all three again without translating them. Your first goal is reading the Japanese correctly. Meaning should follow after recognition.

Write what you hear

Do not look back at the row. Write the hiragana for sa, shi, su, se and so, then check:

Now write whole words. Break each one into sounds first:

You are now using new and previously learned kana together.

Keep this in mind

You now have さ (sa), し (shi), す (su), せ (se) and そ (so). Before moving on, check that you can see し and immediately read shi, hear su and write す, and see すし and read sushi without needing romaji. Most importantly, remember the one irregular-looking part of the row:

Each row has its own surprise. In the H row, for example, ふ is read fu, and it is not an English “foo” either; see how to pronounce ふ.

Once these characters work outside their memorized order, you are ready to combine them with more hiragana instead of merely reciting another line of the chart.

Continue learning

If you still need the vowel row, review How to Read and Write あいうえお: The Five Hiragana Vowels.

To understand where hiragana fits alongside katakana and kanji, read Japanese Alphabets Explained: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

When you are ready to see how small marks change kana sounds, continue with What Are the Two Dots on Japanese Hiragana? Dakuten Explained. Two dots turn さ (sa) into ざ (za) and し (shi) into じ (ji). The small circle, handakuten, never appears on the S row; it only goes on the は (ha) row.

Later, small kana change the rhythm of words too. See small っ (tsu) for the pause in words like きって (kitte).