# り — hiragana “ri”

り is the hiragana character for the sound “ri”. It is written with 2 strokes, and in katakana the same sound is リ.

- Reading: ri
- Strokes: 2
- Katakana: リ

## How り sounds

The Japanese r is one light tap of the tongue, somewhere between r, l and d.

## Don't confuse it with

い

## Words with り

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| りかい | rikai | understanding |
| りゆう | riyuu | reason |
| りよう | riyou | use |
| りんご | ringo | apple |
| りっぱ | rippa | splendid |
| りろん | riron | theory |

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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/ri/. Last updated 2026-11-01.