ba / ば
The first of the B row — は with two tiny ticks (゛) becomes 'ba'. Opens words for numbers, evenings, and the all-purpose 一番 (ichiban, 'number one').
Pronunciation
The character ば represents the syllable 'ba', a soft 'b' followed by 'a'. It is は with the dakuten — two small marks at the upper right that voice the consonant from 'h' to 'b'.
ば is は (ha) plus the dakuten ゛. It's a major shift from the H row's soft /h/ sound — adding ゛ produces a hard, percussive /b/. ば anchors 番号 (bangou, "number"), 一番 (ichiban, "first / number one / the best"), 晩 (ban, "evening"), 場所 (basho, "place"), and verb-stem forms like 始まる (hajimaru, "to begin" — but compare はじめまして hajimemashite). The same は base can also take ゜ to become ぱ (pa), which is what makes the H row unique.
How to write ば
Trace ば on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
Write は exactly: stroke 1 a short vertical on the left, slanting slightly; stroke 2 a long horizontal-with-tail near the top right that crosses through and continues; stroke 3 a long flowing curving stroke that begins below stroke 2, drops down through the centre, and loops around at the bottom right.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small tick marks at the upper right of the character. Strokes 4 and 5 are the two ticks — quick, tiny, sitting clearly above the body.
Origin
Hiragana ば shares its base shape with は, which evolved from the kanji 波 (ha, "wave") or 葉 (ha, "leaf"). The dakuten ゛ was added later as a diacritic; the same H-row base also accepts the round handakuten ゜ to spell the P row — making H unique.
Common words starting with ば
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ば by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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