ru / る
The middle of the R row — a single looping stroke 'ru' that's the dictionary-form ending of every -ru verb in Japanese.
Pronunciation
The character る represents the syllable 'ru', a soft Japanese 'r' followed by 'u' (with relaxed lips). Part of the ら-row. Take care: る looks similar to ろ — but る has a small closed loop at the bottom, while ろ does not.
る is one of the simplest hiragana — a single looping stroke. But it's structurally massive: る is the dictionary-form ending of every -ru verb in Japanese. Every verb that ends in -る in its dictionary form (食べる taberu, 見る miru, 寝る neru, 走る hashiru, …) ends in this character. Once you can read る, hundreds of verbs become legible. It also appears as the noun 留 (留守 "absent") and the verb stem 有 in ある (to exist).
How to write る
Trace る 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. Start with a short horizontal at the top, sweep down and to the right, then loop around at the bottom right in a tight closed circle, ending with a small flick. The character should look like a tiny tornado or a number 3 written sideways — one smooth motion, no lifts.
Origin
Hiragana る derives from the cursive form of the kanji 留 (ru) — meaning "to stay" or "to remain." The kanji's complex three-square layout compressed into the single looping stroke we write today, preserving only the closed lower-right loop.
Common words starting with る
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing る by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the hiragana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.