Tricky Hiragana: る, ろ, そ, and お, あ, む

Welcome again to another post of our Tricky Hiragana series. On this fifth installment, we will study two groups of Hiragana characters and combine them in a single blog post. The る (ru), ろ (ro), and そ (so) are characters that all look like the number 3. Then the characters お (o), む (mu), and あ (a) have similar cross strokes at the top.

I have updated this post to include the character あ since that is also commonly confused with お.

See the previous posts of the Tricky Hiragana series. Here is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

The image below is a guide to understand how the characters are similar or different by following the colored dotted lines.

The Number 3 group of る (ru), ろ (ro), and そ (so)

The characters る (ru) and ろ (ro) both really look like the number “3”. The character そ (so) however is not exactly like a 3 but it starts with a similar Z-stroke with an opposite curve downward stroke.

To differentiate the first two characters, think of る (ru) as a number 3 with a loop at the end. Another trick to remember it is the word “loop” or “ruupu” in Japanese. Ru for ruupu. Then for ろ (ro), it is a number 3 without a loop. It ends smoothly. ろ is the one closest to the number 3 in appearance.

る (ru) is a 3 with a loop.

ろ (ro) is a 3 with no loop.

Then the character そ (so) looks more like a letter Z placed on top of a letter C. It can usually be written in a single stroke starting with the Z on top then the C stroke at the bottom.

そ (so) is a letter Z on top of a letter C.

Sometimes I would also confuse そ (so) with ぞ (zo) because I see the letter Z and pronounce it as Z instead of S. Remember that for ぞ (zo) it has the dakuten marker (゛).

Quick Practice - る, ろ, and そ

Flip the cards below and test your understanding.

そ

so

る

ru

ろ

ro

Tricky お (o), む (mu) and あ (a) Characters

When learning Hiragana, we usually start with the vowels. The characters あ (a) and お (o) are the first characters that can really get us confused. Then add the む (mu) character, all three have a similar starting stroke, i.e., a cross or plus. However, they differ on how the stroke ends.

The character お (o) starts with a horizontal line that is relatively short. Then the vertical stroke cuts through it and goes down to create a small loop on the left and continues with a big curve on the right that looks like a dome. It finishes with a dot or short slash on the top right.

On the other hand, the character あ (a) can have a wider horizontal line to start. Then the vertical stroke is just a straight line. So the first two strokes basically form a cross or lower case letter t. Then the last stroke is a big curl swoop like the pretzel in other characters we discussed before in previous blogs. No dot or slash to finish it.

Finally, the character む (mu) also starts with a horizontal line then with a vertical stroke cutting through it. But as it goes down, a small loop or knot curves on the left and a big hook to the right. It also ends with a dot or short slash.

お (o) is a cross on top of a big round dome with a slash.

あ (a) is a cross with a pretzel.

む (mu) is a cross with knot, hook and slash.

Quick Practice - お, む, and あ

Flip the cards below and test your understanding.

む

mu

お

o

あ

a

Further Resources for Your Hiragana Practice

Review the entire R, S, M, Vowel Hiragana sets with basic sample words and emojis using the following flash card sets:

• Hiragana R Set - Review the ra, ri, ru, re, ro set.
• Hiragana S Set - Practice the sa, shi, su, se, so set.
• Hiragana M Set - Review the ma, mi, mu, me, mo set.
• Hiragana Vowel Set - Review the a, i, u, e, o set.

Practice these tricky Hiragana characters all in one flash card deck at Tricky Hiragana: る, ろ, そ, and お, あ, む.