Hiragana N-Row stroke order: な に ぬ ね の
The N-row is full of loops. ぬ and ね both finish with a small closed loop, and that loop is what separates them from め and れ/わ. In every case the loop is part of the last stroke, drawn in one motion without lifting the pen.
N-Row characters
な (na) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Crossbar, slanted stroke, the dot on the right, then the loop at the bottom.
に (ni) 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Left vertical first, then the two short strokes on the right, top then bottom.
ぬ (nu) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Like め, but the last stroke closes into a small loop at the bottom right.
ね (ne) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
The tall vertical first. The second stroke zig-zags across and ends in a loop. That loop separates it from れ and わ.
の (no) 1 stroke
- 1
One stroke, starting in the middle, going down, then circling round counter-clockwise.
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.
にゃ (nya) 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
にゅ (nyu) 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
にょ (nyo) 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Keep going
Learn what each character looks like and how to remember it in the hiragana N-Row mnemonics article, then drill recognition with N-Row flashcards. The same row in katakana is here.