あHirakata
は Stroke order

Hiragana H-Row stroke order: は ひ ふ へ ほ

は and ほ share a left-hand vertical stroke that comes first, before anything on the right. ふ is the odd one: four separate strokes that look like a single shape in most fonts. Writing it as four short, separate movements is the main thing to practise here.

H-Row characters

(ha) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

Left vertical first, then the crossbar, then the vertical that ends in a loop.

(hi) 1 stroke

  1. 1

One stroke: a small rise, a deep U shape and a tick up at the end.

(fu) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Four strokes: the top mark, the middle hook, then the left and right dots. In fonts it looks like one shape.

(he) 1 stroke

  1. 1

One stroke, a short rise then a long fall to the right.

(ho) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Like は with an extra crossbar. Left vertical, both crossbars, then the vertical with the loop.

Dakuten and handakuten

ば び ぶ べ ぼ are written exactly like the characters above, then finished with two short ticks (dakuten) at the top right. The left tick comes first, and both always come after the rest of the character. ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ add a small circle (handakuten) at the top right instead, drawn last in one motion.

(ba) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(bi) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

(bu) 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

(be) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

(bo) 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

(pa) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

(pi) 2 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2

(pu) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(pe) 2 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2

(po) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Contracted sounds

Contracted sounds are two characters: the full-size base followed by a small ゃ, ゅ, ょ. Write the base exactly as usual, then the small character in the lower half of the next square, at about half size. Its strokes are the same as the full-size version, just smaller.

(hya) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

(hyu) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

(hyo) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

(bya) 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

(byu) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(byo) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(pya) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(pyu) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

(pyo) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Keep going

Learn what each character looks like and how to remember it in the hiragana H-Row mnemonics article, then drill recognition with H-Row flashcards. The same row in katakana is here.

Previous rowN-Row: な に ぬ ね の
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