How to write に (ni) in hiragana
に (ni) has no voiced form. It grew out of the cursive form of the kanji 仁 (“humanity”). Its three strokes begin at the top left, heading downwards then up and right, and the last one finishes at the bottom right. Words that start with it include 二 (“two”), 二月 (“February”), 人気 (“popularity”) and 日米 (“Japan and the United States”).
- Romaji
- ni
- Strokes
- 3
- From
- 仁
- Katakana
- ニ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- top leftdownwards → up and right
- toprightwards → down and left
- centerdown and right → rightwards
Where に comes from
- Hiragana
- 仁, cursive of the whole kanji
- Katakana
- ニ from 二
The two scripts took this sound from different kanji, 仁 (“humanity”) and 二 (“two”).
Look-alikes
Trace it
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Combined sounds
- にゃ nya
- にゅ nyu
- にょ nyo
Words with に
678 common JMdict words with it; ten shown.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 二 | に ni | two; 2 |
| 二月 | にがつ nigatsu | February; second month of the lunar calendar |
| 人気 | にんき ninki | popularity; public favor |
| 日米 | にちべい nichibei | Japan and the United States; Japanese-American |
| 人間 | にんげん ningen | human being; human |
| 日本人 | にほんじん nihonjin | Japanese person |
| 西 | にし nishi | west |
| 西側 | にしがわ nishigawa | west side; west bank |
| 日程 | にってい nittei | schedule; program |
| 二百 | にひゃく nihyaku | 200; two hundred |
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kana: worksheet maker.
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Hiragana, in chart order: