# い — hiragana “i”

い is the hiragana character for the sound “i”. It is written with 2 strokes, and in katakana the same sound is イ.

- Reading: i
- Strokes: 2
- Katakana: イ

## How い sounds

Like the ee in “see”, but shorter.

## Don't confuse it with

り

## Words with い

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| いいえ | iie | no |
| いただきます | itadakimasu | said before eating |
| いく | iku | to go |
| いう | iu | to say |
| いる | iru | to be (of people and animals) |
| いえ | ie | house |

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/hiragana-chart/i/. Last updated 2026-11-01.