na / な
The first character of the N row — a four-stroke 'na' that anchors the negative verb ending and the all-purpose word for 'what'.
Pronunciation
The character な represents the syllable 'na', a soft 'n' followed by 'a' as in 'father'. It is the first character of the な-row.
な opens the な-column and packs into essential beginner words — 名前 (name), 七 (seven), 夏 (summer), and the high-frequency negative verb ending 〜ない ("don't", "isn't"). It's also the entirety of the everyday question word なに ("what?"). Four strokes; angular and confident, similar to た but with a closed loop on the bottom right.
How to write な
Trace な 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 short horizontal stroke at the top — quick, slightly slanted, left to right.
A long vertical stroke on the right that drops from near the top horizontal down to roughly the lower third. Straight or with a slight inward curve.
A short slanted stroke on the lower left — a tiny diagonal that comes down to the bottom of the central area.
A small closed loop on the lower right — a tight circular hook that completes the character's silhouette. This loop is what distinguishes な from た.
Origin
Hiragana な evolved from the cursive form of the kanji 奈 (na) — meaning "how" or "what." The kanji's stacked top horizontal and central vertical survived intact; the lower-left and lower-right strokes flowed into the small diagonal and the closed loop that complete な today.
Common words starting with な
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing な by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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