K

かきくけこ — The K Row

01

Why the K row?

The K row is where Japanese starts to feel like a language and not just a memorisation exercise. With か, き, く, け, こ in your toolkit you can read words for everyday objects (face, tree, voice), basic verbs (to write, to listen, to come), and dozens of place names. The K row is also where the chart's pattern clicks: each character is a consonant ('k') plus one of the five vowels you already know — か = k + a, き = k + i, く = k + u, and so on.

Memory trick: think “kah, kee, koo, keh, koh” — just the AIUEO sequence with a hard 'k' in front. Every other row works the same way.
02

Pronunciation at a glance

KanaRomajiPronunciation
kaLike "ka" in "car"
kiLike "key"
kuLike "coo" in "cool", but shorter
keLike "ke" in "kept"
koLike "co" in "coat"
03

Words you can read with the K row

Now that you know the vowels plus かきくけこ, you can read a lot of everyday Japanese. These words use only characters from the first two rows of the chart. Print these as flashcards →

kaoface
kakipersimmon · oyster
kakuto write
kauto buy
kitree, wood
kikuto listen, to ask
kuchimouth (preview — uses ち)
koevoice
kokohere
koicarp · love
akiautumn
ikepond
ekistation
okahill
kaikeiaccounting · the bill
04

What's next

After the K row, the next step is the が-row (が ぎ ぐ げ ご) — the same K shapes with a voicing mark (゛) on top. From there the chart fills in row by row.