# Dear Duolingo: Why does Japanese have three writing systems?

And when is each system used? Here’s what you need to know about writing in Japanese.

_Welcome to another week of Dear Duolingo, an advice column just for language learners. Catch up on past installments_ [_here_](https://blog.duolingo.com/tag/dear-duolingo/) _._

_Konnichiwa!_ I’m Anthony, a Curriculum Designer at Duolingo working on our Japanese course for English speakers. Before coming to Duolingo, I completed my master’s in East Asian Languages and Cultures and taught Japanese while translating video games on the side. The writing system is one of the things I find most fascinating about Japanese, so I’m really excited to tackle this week's question!

### Our question this week:

Thanks, Hiragonna Need Some Help! With so many different kinds of characters, it’s no wonder Japanese beginners find it challenging to keep track of which system is which. But don’t worry, I’ll cover a couple of tips and tricks for how to tell them apart so you know when to use them.

Long story short, _hiragana_ and _katakana_ both represent **sounds**, while _kanji_ represent **meanings**. Before we dive deeper into other differences, let’s look at a brief history as to how we got to these three writing systems!

## Where did the Japanese writing systems come from?

Long ago, Japanese didn’t have any writing system at all until _kanji_ (Chinese characters) arrived from China (sometimes [through Korea](https://blog.duolingo.com/history-of-korean-language/#the-impact-of-chinese-on-korean)) over a thousand years ago. Japanese government officials, scholars, and religious leaders simply started out learning and using Chinese to record information, but eventually wanted to be able to write down Japanese too. But one challenge of using only _kanji_ to write Japanese is that _kanji_ characters mainly represent meanings, so it wasn’t straightforward how to make Chinese-specific _kanji_ map onto a very different language with a very different grammar and sound system!

For example, Chinese verbs don’t have different endings or tenses (like in [English](https://blog.duolingo.com/verb-forms/) and [Spanish](https://blog.duolingo.com/spanish-preterite-imperfect/)), so the character for a Chinese verb is always pronounced the same and doesn’t ever change based on tense. But Japanese verbs _do_ have different forms! So what _kanji_ character meaning could you use for a verb ending? 🤔

| English verb | Japanese verb | Chinese verb |
| --- | --- | --- |
| laugh | 笑います<br>wara **imasu** | 笑<br>xiào |
| laugh **ing** | 笑っています<br>wara **tteimasu** | 笑<br>xiào |
| laugh **ed** | 笑いました<br>wara **imashita** | 笑<br>xiào |

To solve this problem, a special set of _kanji_ called _manyougana_ were chosen to represent Japanese sounds. Now a word, like a Japanese verb, could be made of a combination of _kanji_ meanings and _manyougana_ for endings!

💡

Those _manyougana_ characters were eventually simplified into _hiragana_ and _katakana_.

(Check out [this video](https://youtu.be/9hNcG4QTBDo?ref=blog.duolingo.com) to watch that simplification process in action to create the characters あ “a,” い “i,” う “u,” え “e,” and お “o”!)

## What is each Japanese writing system used for?

Modern Japanese uses a mix of _hiragana_, _katakana_, and _kanji_, but they aren’t just thrown together randomly. (Phew, right? 😅) Each system has its own part to play and is important to learn in order to [read Japanese](https://blog.duolingo.com/learning-to-read-japanese-characters/) and get your brain into “Japanese mode.”

### When to use hiragana (ひらがな)

_Hiragana_ represent sounds in Japanese. However, unlike [an alphabet that represents individual letters](https://blog.duolingo.com/history-of-the-alphabet/), each _hiragana_ usually represents a combination of a consonant and a vowel. For example, the character ひ represents the sounds “h” and “i” together as **hi**. _Hiragana_ are used to write [particles](https://blog.duolingo.com/japanese-particle-no/), adjectives and verb endings, and other parts of grammar. One way to tell _hiragana_ apart from _katakana_ and _kanji_ is that _hiragana_ tend to have a lot of round “bubbly” shapes.

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Some common phrases like こんにちは ( _konnichiwa_, “hello”) and common adjectives like かわいい ( _kawaii_, “cute”) are often written in _hiragana_.

_Hiragana_ are also used as a guide to show how _kanji_ are pronounced, especially if the _kanji_ are rare or are parts of people’s names. You might see _hiragana_ in parentheses next to the _kanji,_ or the _hiragana_ might be in a smaller size either above or below the _kanji_.

The Duolingo Japanese course allows you to turn _hiragana_ pronunciation guides on and off [in the settings](https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-101-how-to-learn-a-language-on-duolingo/#settings-and-personalization) or directly in a lesson. When you forget how to write a word in _kanji_, _hiragana_ can come in handy as a substitute, too!

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| --- | --- | --- |
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### When to use katakana (カタカナ)

Like _hiragana_, _katakana_ also represent sounds, but they’re not as common because their uses are much more specific. _Katakana_ also tend to have a lot more straight lines and sharp angles compared to the bubbly _hiragana_.

_Katakana_ have kind of a grab-bag of uses that are a little different from other words–a bit like using _italics_, **bold**, or ALL-CAPS in English when you want to make a word stand out.

_Katakana_ are mainly used for [words borrowed from foreign languages](https://blog.duolingo.com/japanese-loanwords-from-other-languages/), especially English, but many come from other languages, too, such as Portuguese, Dutch, German, and French. エレベーター (erebeetaa), for instance, comes from the English “elevator,” while パン (pan, “bread”) comes from the Portuguese _pão_.

Names of foreign people and places are also written in _katakana_. For example, the U.S. city of “Pittsburgh” is written as ピッツバーグ (pittsubaagu). A lot of titles of foreign books, movies, TV shows, and video games also tend to be converted into _katakana_ instead of being translated into Japanese words.

But there are other common cases where _katakana_ are used for words that aren’t strictly foreign:

- **Japanese** [**slang**](https://blog.duolingo.com/slang-all-languages/) **.** For example, マジ ( _maji_), which is similar to “for real” or the abbreviated “fr” in English.
- **Many Japanese company names.** For example, one of Japan’s most recognizable car brands, _Toyota_, is written as トヨタ with _katakana_.
- **Names of less common plants and animals.** For example, サメ ( _same_, “shark”) and キリン ( _kirin_, “giraffe”) are often written in _katakana_ since the _kanji_ associated with them are too complicated or rare to be included in school curricula. Imagine needing to write out ​​麒麟 every time for “giraffe”! 😳

### When to use kanji (漢字)

_Kanji_ are different from _hiragana_ and _katakana_ in that they mainly represent **meaning** rather than sounds. It’s kinda like how [emojis](https://blog.duolingo.com/emoji-language-trends/) can symbolize whole concepts! The easiest way to tell _kanji_ apart from _hiragana_ and _katakana_ is that they tend to look a lot more complicated. Most of the basic meanings of words like nouns, adjectives, and verbs are written in _kanji_.

Because _kanji_ themselves don’t contain information about things like the tense of a verb, they’re often combined with _hiragana_ to write out the full verb. Like in the example at the beginning of this post: 笑いました ( _**warai** mashita_, “laughed”) combines the _kanji_ 笑 for “laugh” with the _hiragana_ ました ( _mashita_), which tells you the verb happened in the past.

## Where you’ll see these Japanese writing systems on Duolingo

Right from the start, you’ll see both _hiragana_ and _katakana_ in all your Japanese exercises on Duolingo—and you’ll also see _romaji_, a system that represents how Japanese is pronounced using the Roman alphabet. That means you can jump straight into learning basic Japanese words and phrases without knowing all the _hiragana_ and _katakana_! There will be lots of time to work on those. 😅

Once you feel ready, you can head over to the [_hiragana_ and _katakana_ tab](https://blog.duolingo.com/learning-to-read-japanese-characters/)! Here, you’ll find charts that list all the _hiragana_ and _katakana_, and special lessons to both learn and practice them. The exercises in the tab help you make connections between the characters and the sounds they represent, with chances to write them out on your screen, too.

Since _kanji_ mainly represent meanings rather than sounds, you’ll be introduced to those after you’ve had a chance to absorb some _hiragana_ and _katakana_. When a lesson has new _kanji_, you’ll first see introductory exercises that focus specifically on the new _kanji_, right at the very beginning of the lesson (even before you use them in the usual exercises). We make sure to cover plenty of _kanji_ in the lessons you’ll see… and stay tuned for exciting _kanji_ updates to come! 😉

## Tips for practicing the Japanese writing systems

Luckily, you’re already getting plenty of practice just going through the exercises in your lessons. The more you see the three writing systems in vocabulary, sentences, and Stories, the more they’ll start sticking! Here are even more ways you can practice reading and writing in Japanese:

- **Practice in the _hiragana_ and _katakana_ tab.** You’ll have access to that tab even after you gild all the characters, and when you go back to the tab, you’ll see increasingly challenging exercises.
- **Turn off _romaji_** for an extra challenge! You can do this when you feel more comfortable about your _hiragana_ and _katakana_ skills.
- **Grab a pencil and paper** and practice writing old-school. You can copy the _hiragana_ and _katakana_ charts, jot down new _kanji_ that show up, or practice [writing your name](https://japanesenameconverter.nolanlawson.com/?ref=blog.duolingo.com), as well as vocabulary and [key phrases](https://blog.duolingo.com/8-phrases-for-japan/) you come across in your lessons… anything goes, as long as you make sure to remember how to read them out loud! 😅
- **Jam to some of your favorite** [**Japanese tunes**](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cJrUoBFMWI0lJrcRFcF4d?ref=blog.duolingo.com) **,** but make sure to pull up the Japanese lyrics on the side. A lot can be found on YouTube or are easily Google-able online. Can you follow along to see which words match the written lyrics, and what words get written in each writing system?
- **Get your snack on.** Either by visiting your local Asian supermarket or ordering online (even just looking doesn’t hurt!), reading characters on Japanese snack packages can make for delicious practice!
- **Go on a** [**Google Street View Adventure**](https://www.google.com/maps/@?api=1&map_action=pano&viewpoint=35.6595103,139.7004748&ref=blog.duolingo.com) **.** Find a street in Japan to plop yourself down in and see how many characters you can recognize in billboards and store signs!
- **Turn on Japanese subtitles** and revisit scenes you enjoyed the most in your favorite [Japanese anime](https://blog.duolingo.com/how-to-learn-japanese-from-anime/), drama, or [movie](https://blog.duolingo.com/language-practice-with-tv-movies/) on Netflix. You can follow along to see if you can match the subtitles to the dialogue.

## It’s a journey that builds “character”!

Whether you’re learning Japanese to read [manga](https://blog.duolingo.com/learning-asian-language-duolingo/), sing your favorite anime opening themes at [karaoke](https://blog.duolingo.com/how-music-can-help-you-learn-a-language/), or order [coffee](https://blog.duolingo.com/order-coffee-in-different-languages/) at a cat cafe in Tokyo, every little bit of practice counts, and with a little patience, you’ll have learned the characters before you know it!

For easy reference, here are the basics about the three writing systems:

Until next time, またね！(Mata ne!)