How to write あ (a) in hiragana
あ (a) is one of the five vowels that open the chart; every kana syllable except ん ends in one of them. It grew out of the cursive form of the kanji 安 (“peaceful”). Its three strokes begin at the top left, heading rightwards, and the last one finishes at the bottom. Words that start with it include 秋 (“autumn”), 足 (“foot”), 後 (“behind”) and 相手 (“companion”).
- Romaji
- a
- Strokes
- 3
- From
- 安
- Katakana
- ア
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- top leftrightwards
- topdownwards
- centerdown and left → up and right
Where あ comes from
The two scripts took this sound from different kanji, 安 (“peaceful”) and 阿 (“nook”).
Look-alikes
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Words with あ
727 common JMdict words with it; ten shown.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 秋 | あき aki | autumn; fall |
| 足 | あし ashi | foot; paw |
| 後 | あと ato | behind; rear |
| 相手 | あいて aite | companion; partner |
| 新た | あらた arata | new; fresh |
| 安保 | あんぽ anpo | security; US-Japan Security Treaty |
| 明らか | あきらか akiraka | clear; obvious |
| 安全 | あんぜん anzen | safety; security |
| 愛 | あい ai | love; affection |
| 雨 | あめ ame | rain; rainy day |
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kana: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Hiragana, in chart order: