kyu / きゅ
The middle KY combined kana — き plus a small ゅ becomes 'kyu', a single syllable. Anchors the number nine, cucumbers, and the word 'suddenly'.
Pronunciation
The compound character きゅ represents the syllable 'kyu', formed by combining き (ki) with a small ゅ (yu). It is pronounced as a single syllable 'kyu', not 'ki-yu'. Yōon syllables like this are essential in everyday Japanese vocabulary.
きゅ is き (ki) plus a small ゅ (yu). Together they produce a single syllable /kyu/, sounding almost exactly like the English word "cue". It anchors 九 (kyuu, "nine"), 急に (kyuu ni, "suddenly"), 急行 (kyuukou, "express train"), 休憩 (kyuukei, "rest / break"), 牛乳 (gyuunyuu, "milk" — dakuten variant ぎゅ), and 胡瓜 (kyuuri, "cucumber"). The small ゅ is visibly smaller than full-size ゆ.
How to write きゅ
Trace きゅ 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 (two horizontals, a curving vertical, a small hook).
Write a small ゅ next to き. Stroke 5 is the small looping body (a tiny tear-drop shape); stroke 6 is the horizontal anchor crossing through it. Keep ゅ at roughly half the height of き.
Origin
きゅ is the written combination of き (from 幾, ki) and a small ゆ (from 由, yu, "reason"). Like all yōon, the combined spelling encodes a palatalized syllable that exists as a single sound in spoken Japanese.
Common words starting with きゅ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing きゅ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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