Hiragana T-Row stroke order: た ち つ て と
The T-row has the classic mirror pair: ち and さ. Both start with a crossbar and a stroke coming down through it, and the difference is entirely in which way the bottom curve faces. Tracing them back to back is the fastest way to stop mixing them up. つ and て are single strokes, so the direction you draw them in is the whole lesson.
T-Row characters
た (ta) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
The left part is a crossbar and a slanted stroke, like a small "t". The two short strokes on the right come last, top then bottom.
ち (chi) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Crossbar, then the stroke that comes down and curves out to the right. It faces the opposite way to さ.
つ (tsu) 1 stroke
- 1
One stroke, left to right, curving down at the end.
て (te) 1 stroke
- 1
One stroke, starting at the left with a short rise, across, then curving down and back.
と (to) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
The short slanted stroke first, then the curved stroke starting from the top right.
Dakuten and handakuten
だ ぢ づ で ど 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.
だ (da) 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
ぢ (ji) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
づ (zu) 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
で (de) 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
ど (do) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
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.
ちゃ (cha) 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
ちゅ (chu) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
ちょ (cho) 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Keep going
Learn what each character looks like and how to remember it in the hiragana T-Row mnemonics article, then drill recognition with T-Row flashcards. The same row in katakana is here.