du / づ
The middle of the D row — つ with two tiny ticks (゛) becomes 'zu' (sounds identical to ず). Rare in modern Japanese — appears mainly in 続く (tsudzuku, 'to continue') and a few others.
Pronunciation
The character づ represents the syllable pronounced 'zu' in modern Japanese (identical to ず). It is つ with the dakuten. Like ぢ, it appears mostly in compound words where つ becomes voiced (e.g., みかづき — crescent moon); ず is the standard form for 'zu' in most words.
づ is つ (tsu) plus the dakuten ゛. Like ぢ, it's pronounced identically to its Z-row counterpart — both sound like English zoo. The romaji du is just a transliteration convention to distinguish づ from ず on paper. In modern writing, づ appears mostly in 続く (tsuzuku / tsudzuku, "to continue"), 三日月 (mikazuki, "crescent moon"), 鼓 (tsuzumi, a type of drum), and other compound words whose second element originally started with つ. Default to ず for nearly every other zu.
How to write づ
Trace づ 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 つ exactly: a single flowing stroke shaped like a sideways comma or hook. Start at the upper left, sweep across and down to the lower right in a smooth curve, ending with a small flick.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small tick marks at the upper right. Strokes 2 and 3 are the two ticks.
Origin
Hiragana づ shares its base shape with つ, which evolved from the kanji 川 (tsu, in an older reading) or 津 (tsu, "harbor"). Like ぢ, づ historically had a distinct /du/ sound that merged with ず's /zu/ centuries ago.
Common words starting with づ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing づ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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