How to write こ (ko) in hiragana
こ (ko) turns into ご (go) with the voicing marks. It grew out of the cursive form of the kanji 己 (“self”). Its two strokes begin at the top left, heading rightwards then down and left, and the last one finishes at the bottom right. Words that start with it include 子 (“child”), 声 (“voice”), 効果 (“effect”) and 候補 (“candidate”).
- Romaji
- ko
- Strokes
- 2
- From
- 己
- Katakana
- コ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- top leftrightwards → down and left
- leftdown and right → rightwards
Where こ comes from
- Hiragana
- 己, cursive of the whole kanji
- Katakana
- コ from 己
Here both scripts start from the same kanji, 己 (“self”).
Look-alikes
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
With voicing marks
Base kana first, then the marks at the top right.
Words with こ
1,659 common JMdict words with it; ten shown.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 子 | こ ko | child; kid |
| 声 | こえ koe | voice; singing |
| 効果 | こうか kouka | effect; effectiveness |
| 候補 | こうほ kouho | candidate; contender |
| 個人 | こじん kojin | individual; private person |
| 国家 | こっか kokka | state; country |
| 今年 | ことし kotoshi | this year |
| 言葉 | ことば kotoba | language; dialect |
| 子供 | こども kodomo | child; children |
| 今後 | こんご kongo | from now on; hereafter |
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kana: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Hiragana, in chart order: