Hiragana は・ま rows — は as a particle, not only a letter

Two cups. はい is ha. これは is wa.

In this lesson you will

• Write はひふへほ and まみむめも
• Pronounce はい with ha and これは with wa
• Point to ま in ます and not treat ます as an English “mass”

Today’s scene

How it works

The は row is は ひ ふ へ ほ. ふ is the odd one: closer to a soft fu than to English “foo” or a hard F. へ as a letter is he; as a particle later it will sound like え. Park the particle へ. Today’s fork is は. ほ is ho, no extra W.

The ま row is ま み む め も. ま is the first beat of ます, the polite verb ending you have been hearing at the end of わかりました and in the preview たべます. め collides with yesterday’s ぬ if you write in a hurry. も will later mean “also”; today it is still a character. み and む need slow copies — they unravel when students race.

はい is yes, or “I’m here”. Both は and い are letters with their usual sounds. これは is “this (as a topic)”. The は after これ is the topic particle. Say wa. If you say kore-ha with a hard H, you are reading a chart, not Japanese. Do not write わ instead of particle は. Ears hear わ. Hands still write は.

Two cups on the table let us use あつい (hot) and つめたい (cold) without stealing a tea-shop chapter. つめたい contains today’s め. ます is a word-shape to see, not a conjugation table. Full “I do” grammar lives in a later beginner lesson. Today you only refuse to treat ます as decoration.

は is the first hiragana that will split its job in front of you. Until now, a character had one honest sound. は still has a honest sound when it is a letter in a word: はい is hai. Then Japanese takes the same shape and uses it as a topic particle: これは, あさは, later わたしは. That particle is written は and pronounced わ. The chart did not warn you loudly enough. This lesson is the warning, in a polite voice, with two cups on the table.

Write はひふへほ. は is two strokes that students fatten into a Latin H. It is not an H. ひ looks like a hook of hiragana that people confuse with り later; we will meet り tomorrow. ふ is the row’s strange guest. English “foo” is too round and too long. A soft fu — air through slightly rounded lips, short う — is closer. Do not bite it like “few”. へ as a letter is he, like a short “heh”. Later, the direction particle へ will be said え. That is the same kind of fork as は / わ. We mention it so you are not ambushed. We do not drill へ as a particle today. ほ is ho, no souvenir W at the end.

Write まみむめも. ま is a boxy character that must stay recognizable at form size because it lives inside ます, ません, ました — years of polite verbs. If your ま looks like ほ, clerks squint. み unravels when you race; give it a slow copy. む is a knot, cousin in feeling to そ. め is the collision with ぬ. Put ぬ and め on the same line tonight. ぬ has a twist め does not. も will later mean “also”; today it is a letter. You already heard も inside words you were not asked to spell.

はい versus これは is the whole fork. In the dialogue the teacher says はい、どうぞ — here you are — then これは、あついです. Same morning, two sounds from the same ink. はい: ha. これは: wa. Students who pride themselves on “reading the chart” say kore-ha and wonder why it sounds foreign. It sounds foreign because it is a chart, not Japanese. The opposite error is to hear wa and write これわ. That spelling is wrong. わ as a letter is the next lesson. The particle remains は. Japanese is not a phonetic reward sticker. It is a writing system with jobs.

We do not finish です and は grammar today. There is a beginner lesson whose only job is A は B です. Today you only refuse to be surprised. When you see は after a noun, ask: is this inside a word like はい, はな, ひと, or is it sitting after a chunk like これ / それ / あさ to mark the topic? Inside a word, try ha. As a lone marker, say wa. はな (flower / nose) is ha-na. はなは, when it appears later, will be hana-wa. That sentence can wait. Your ear can start listening for the fork now.

ま inside ます is the second gift of this page. You have heard ます at the end of たべます and わかりました. わかりました is past and a little ahead of this kana week; treat it as a formula, as you already do. ます itself is ま plus す — す you own from the さ row. Look at the shape. Do not open a conjugation table. Do not collect のみます and いきます as if this were a verb chapter. The beginner series will teach object を and ます properly. If you steal that chapter now, you will memorize endings you cannot read in the middle of a word. Read ま. Write ま. Hear it as the start of politeness, not as English “mass”.

The two cups are not decoration. あつい and つめたい are readable: あ, つ, い, め. Hot and cold. Forward cup and farther cup — これ and それ, which you have been using. This is a scene. It is not a dump of ほし / ふゆ / みみ / うま. Those words are fair extra copies on your own paper: まど (window) fits a shoji morning; note that ど is と with dots, a preview of dakuten, not a license to sprinkle dots on everything. はな, ひと, ひる, ふゆ, もも are readable or nearly readable. Park へや (room) until や arrives tomorrow. Park わたし until わ arrives tomorrow. Park ほん until ん arrives tomorrow. The chart is almost finished. Almost is not an excuse to steal three lessons.

If your first language is Korean, 은/는 is a cousin of topic は, not a clone, and it will not tell you to write わ. Keep the Japanese spelling. ㅎ is not a map for ふ. If you speak Mandarin, there is no 是 in the middle of これは、あついです; です still comes last. If you speak English, never pronounce the particle as the English letter “H”. If you speak Spanish or Portuguese, do not make は into ja or fa. If you speak French, は as ha is not silent H. If you speak Arabic, は is not a heavy ḥāʾ. If you speak Italian, ます is not “mas”. Short. Clean. Final す as you learned it.

Practice loop: write both rows; say はい and これは out loud until the は disagrees with itself and you are no longer angry about it; write ます once slowly; read the dialogue with two real cups if you have them. Anger at the particle is a phase. Writing わ too early is a habit. Break the habit before わ arrives as a real letter, or you will never trust either character. Next lesson completes hiragana: や ら わ ん, dakuten, and the small ゃゅょ that make きょう one beat instead of two.

The は and ま rows

は ha · ひ hi · ふ fu · へ he · ほ ho
ま ma · み mi · む mu · め me · も mo
ふ is a soft fu. め is not ぬ.

Two jobs for は, and ま in ます

はい — letter は, said ha
これは — particle は, said wa, still written は
ます — polite ending; the first character is ま

Sentences you can use

Close, but not this

OK これは、あついです。
NG これわ、あついです。

You hear wa, so you want to write わ. Japanese still writes the particle as は. わ as a letter arrives next lesson. Using it here is a spelling error, not a clever phonetic shortcut.

Say it out loud

Next: や ゆ よ, らりるれろ, わ を ん, the dakuten dots that make が ざ だ ば, and small ゃゅょ. Then hiragana can finally hold きょう and わたし.

Write one sentence today