One Hiragana, Short Japanese Words Part 2: かきくけこ

Short Japanese words are a good way to start learning Japanese. In part one we learned あいうえお This is part two of a series to introduce Hiragana by teaching words that are only one Hiragana character long.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

INDEX

蚊(か) – Swatting Mosquitoes

蚊(か) is the Japanese word for mosquito.

蚊をたたく
かをたたく
to swat a mosquito

木(き) – Climbing Trees

木(き) is the word for tree in Japanese.

木を登る
きをのぼる
to climb a tree

区(く) – Ward

区(く) is ward in English. It is a way to segment parts of a city. Especially Tokyo which is very large and has many 区. 23 to be exact. For example, 新宿区(しんじゅくく）.

毛(け) – Hair

毛(け) is hair. It refers to body hair, facial hair, fur, and so on. Usually though when talking about someone’s hair on their head, you would say 髪の毛(かみのけ).

子(こ) – Child

子(こ) means child. Specifically, when talking about a human child you would say 男の子(おとこのこ) for a boy and 女の子(おんなのこ) for a girl. 子 is used in compounds for animals also. 子犬(こいぬ) is puppy and kitty is 子猫(こねこ).