Phase 0 · 6 min
How Japanese works
Three scripts, one sentence shape
Three writing systems, used together
Every Japanese sentence mixes three scripts. Hiragana (ひらがな) is the phonetic script for native words and grammar endings. Katakana (カタカナ) is the same sounds with different shapes, used for foreign loanwords, emphasis, and many technical terms. Kanji (漢字) are Chinese-origin characters that carry meaning, used for word roots.
私はデータを分析します。
わたし は データ を ぶんせき します
watashi wa dēta o bunseki shimasu
I analyse data.
私 / 分析 = kanji · は / を / します = hiragana · データ = katakana
Sound first, then shape
Japanese is built from morae (beats). Each hiragana is one beat: a vowel, or a consonant plus a vowel. There are only 5 vowels and roughly 100 syllable sounds. Master the sounds and every kana becomes just a picture of a sound you already know.
From Urdu
Think of hiragana like an abugida you already read: each sign is consonant + vowel, like Urdu letters carrying zabar/zer/pesh. The difference: the vowel is built into the shape, never a diacritic.
Word order: Subject – Object – Verb
English is SVO: 'I drink tea.' Japanese is SOV: 'I tea drink.' The verb always sits at the end, and small particles after each noun tell you its role. Because particles mark roles, the pieces before the verb can move around.
私はお茶を飲みます。
わたし は おちゃ を のみます
watashi wa ocha o nomimasu
I drink tea.
私は (I - topic) お茶を (tea - object) 飲みます (drink)
From Urdu
Urdu is already SOV: میں چائے پیتا ہوں (main chai peeta hoon) = I tea drink. Japanese 私はお茶を飲みます has exactly the same shape. Your Urdu word-order instinct transfers directly.
From Thai
Thai is SVO like English (ผมดื่มชา = I drink tea). For Japanese, move the verb to the end and keep everything else. Thai's lack of spaces between words is the same habit Japanese uses.
Reading direction and punctuation
On screens Japanese runs left-to-right in horizontal lines, like English. Books and newspapers often use vertical lines read top-to-bottom, columns moving right-to-left. There are no spaces between words. The full stop is 。 (句点), the comma is 、 (読点). Question marks are optional because the particle か already marks a question.
Check yourself
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6 cards
Add them to spaced repetition
Cards in this lesson (6)
ひらがな
hiragana
Hiragana: phonetic script for native words and grammar
カタカナ
katakana
Katakana: same sounds, used for loanwords and tech terms
漢字かんじ
kanji
Kanji: meaning-carrying characters
Word order?
Word order?
Subject – Object – Verb. The verb is always last.
。
.
句点 (kuten): full stop
、
,
読点 (touten): comma