Dakuten & Handakuten Chart
Modified Characters with Diacritical Marks
Dakuten (゛): Changes voiceless sounds to voiced (k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b)
Handakuten (゜): Changes h-sounds to p-sounds
| A | I | U | E | O | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | が ga | ぎ gi | ぐ gu | げ ge | ご go |
| Z | ざ za | じ ji | ず zu | ぜ ze | ぞ zo |
| D | だ da | ぢ ji | づ zu | で de | ど do |
| B | ば ba | び bi | ぶ bu | べ be | ぼ bo |
| P | ぱ pa | ぴ pi | ぷ pu | ぺ pe | ぽ po |
About dakuten and handakuten
Dakuten (゛) and handakuten (゜) are small marks added to the upper-right corner of certain hiragana to change their pronunciation. Dakuten turns voiceless consonants voiced — か (ka) becomes が (ga), さ (sa) becomes ざ (za), た (ta) becomes だ (da), and は (ha) becomes ば (ba). Handakuten only applies to the H-row, turning it into the P-sound — は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa).
This chart covers all 25 modified characters across the G, Z, D, B, and P rows. They're just as common as the 46 base characters, so they're worth memorizing early rather than treating as an afterthought.
Study alongside this chart
Read Diacritical Marks Guide for a fuller explanation of how and why these sounds shift, then drill them in Study mode alongside the base characters. If you haven't covered the 46 base hiragana yet, start with the basic hiragana chart first — dakuten and handakuten build directly on those shapes.
Once these feel automatic, move on to the contracted sounds chart, or test recall with a blank practice sheet.