pu / ぷ
The middle of the P row — ふ with a small round circle (゜) becomes 'pu'. Anchors pudding, pools, and the springy onomatopoeia ぷりぷり.
Pronunciation
The character ぷ represents the syllable 'pu', a hard 'p' followed by 'u'. It is ふ with the handakuten that hardens 'h' to 'p'.
ぷ is ふ (fu) plus the handakuten ゜. Like the rest of the P row, it dominates loanwords — プール (puuru, "pool"), プリン (purin, "pudding / flan"), プレゼント (purezento, "present / gift"), プログラム (puroguramu, "program"); and onomatopoeia — ぷりぷり (puripuri, "firm and springy / pouting"), ぷかぷか (pukapuka, "floating idly"). It also appears after ん in compounds like 天ぷら (tenpura, "tempura"). Word-initial ぷ is a sharp /pu/.
How to write ぷ
Trace ぷ 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 ふ exactly: stroke 1 a short slanted dash near the top; stroke 2 a long flowing curving stroke that begins below stroke 1, dips down through the centre, and curves around at the bottom; stroke 3 a small dot on the lower left; stroke 4 a small dot on the lower right.
Add the handakuten (゜): a small open circle at the upper right. Stroke 5 is a single tiny circle. Don't confuse with ぶ (which has two ticks ゛).
Origin
Hiragana ぷ shares its base shape with ふ, which evolved from the kanji 不 (fu, "not / un-"). The handakuten ゜ produces the /p/ sound; the same ふ base also accepts ゛ to become ぶ (bu). The unusual four-stroke base of ふ makes ぷ one of the more elaborate kana to write — five strokes total.
Common words starting with ぷ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ぷ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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