Small っ and long vowels

Japanese counts sounds in beats (mora). A small っ adds a beat of silence that doubles the next consonant, and a long vowel is held for two beats. Both change meaning: きて (kite, “come”) is not きって (kitte, “stamp”), and おばさん (obasan, “aunt”) is not おばあさん (obāsan, “grandmother”).

Practise kana free

Small っ (sokuon)

A small っ is not read “tsu”. It is a short pause: you hold the next consonant for a beat before releasing it. In romaji the consonant is doubled.

Before ch, Hepburn writes tch: まっちゃ is matcha. In katakana it is ッ: ベッド (beddo, “bed”), カップ (kappu, “cup”), ロボット (robotto, “robot”). At the end of an exclamation, あっ!, it simply cuts the sound off.

Long vowels in hiragana

A long vowel is written by adding a second vowel after the syllable:

• a + あ, i + い and u + う simply lengthen the sound.
• A long e is usually written with い: せんせい sounds like “sensē”. A few words such as おねえさん use え.
• A long o is usually written with う: おとうさん. A few words use お: おおきい (“big”), とお (“ten”).

Long vowels in katakana: ー

Katakana lengthens a vowel with a dash: コーヒー (kōhī, “coffee”), ケーキ (kēki, “cake”), スーパー (sūpā, “supermarket”). In vertical writing the dash is vertical.

Length changes the word

Romaji for long vowels

Hepburn romaji marks a long vowel with a macron (ā, ū, ē, ō) but writes a long i as ii; in katakana words ー gives ī as well (kōhī). You will also see ou, oo or oh (Tokyo, Tōkyō, Toukyou). When you type Japanese, type the kana: o-u gives おう, and the minus key gives ー.

ん before a vowel

ん is a beat of its own. Before a vowel or y, romaji adds an apostrophe so it doesn't merge: きんえん (kin'en, “no smoking”) versus きねん (kinen, “commemoration”).

Frequently asked questions