n / ん
The closer of the chart — a single flowing stroke 'n' that's the only standalone consonant in hiragana, appearing at the end of countless words.
Pronunciation
The character ん represents the syllabic nasal 'n' — the only consonant in Japanese that can stand alone as a full syllable without a vowel. It can sound like 'n', 'm', or 'ng' depending on what follows: closer to 'm' before 'p', 'b', or 'm' (e.g., さんま 'samma'), closer to 'ng' before 'k' or 'g' (e.g., りんご 'ringo'), and 'n' elsewhere. ん never starts a word — it always ends or appears mid-word.
ん is the only standalone consonant in hiragana — the syllabic nasal. It can sound like n, m, or ng depending on what follows: closer to m before p, b, m (さんま samma); closer to ng before k, g (りんご ringo); and n elsewhere. ん never starts a word — it always closes or appears mid-word. You'll see it everywhere: 本 (hon, "book"), 円 (en, "yen"), さん (the honorific suffix), and the negative ending 〜ません. One stroke; one of the easiest to write and one of the most-used characters in the language.
How to write ん
Trace ん 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.
A single flowing stroke. Begin in the upper left with a short downward dash, sweep down to the lower middle, then curve upward and to the right in a smooth arc that rises toward the upper right and ends with a small inward hook. The shape resembles a small lowercase 'n' or a flowing wave.
Origin
Hiragana ん derives from the cursive form of the kanji 无 (mu) — meaning "nothing" or "none." The kanji's strokes flowed together into the single sweeping curve we write today; ん was a relatively late addition to the kana set, codified as a distinct character only in the late 19th century.
Common words starting with ん
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ん by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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