kyo / きょ
The last KY combined kana — き plus a small ょ becomes 'kyo', a single syllable. Anchors 'today', 'classroom', and the name of the capital, Tokyo.
Pronunciation
The compound character きょ represents the syllable 'kyo', formed by combining き (ki) with a small ょ (yo). It is pronounced as a single syllable 'kyo'.
きょ is き (ki) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they produce a single syllable /kyo/. It's one of the most-used combined kana in everyday Japanese: 今日 (kyou, "today"), 教室 (kyoushitsu, "classroom"), 教科書 (kyoukasho, "textbook"), 兄弟 (kyoudai, "siblings"), 興味 (kyoumi, "interest"), 去年 (kyonen, "last year"), and the country's capital 東京 (toukyou, "Tokyo"). The small ょ is visibly smaller than full-size よ.
How to write きょ
Trace きょ 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 き exactly: four strokes.
Write a small ょ next to き. Stroke 5 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 6 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of き — small enough that it reads as a combiner, not a separate character.
Origin
きょ is the written combination of き (from 幾, ki) and a small よ (from 与, yo, "to give"). The yōon spelling distinguishes /kyo/ (one syllable, written きょ) from /kiyo/ (two syllables, written きよ) — the small-vs-full ょ/よ size is the only visual difference.
Common words starting with きょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing きょ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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