ん and ン
Pronunciation
“N” sound in “Ton”.
Sometimes:
“M” sound in “Tom”.
Sometimes:
“NG” sound in “Tongue”.
Video on when those differences occur, coming soon! For the most part, using the "N" sound in "Ton" will be your safest bet.
ん Memorization Story
The hiragana ん is just a fancy small letter n.
Coincidentally, the sound ん? With a questioning intonation is the sound people make when they see something that is a bit confusing, or they can’t quite compute on the spot. Similar to the English “Huh?”
ン Memorization Story
That ん sound is the sound YOU make the first time you see the katakana ン. Isn’t that the same as this one?
Well, no, ン is more horizontal, with ソ being more vertical.
More about that below...
Writing
There are a number of important differences between the katakana ソ and ン that help Japanese people differentiate them. They’re actually the same as those that distinguish シ from ツ.
ン is written TOP stroke to bottom stroke, with nearly HORIZONTAL lines and the second stroke written LEFT TO WRITE, while the second stroke in ソ is PULLED BACK from top to bottom, and both strokes are nearly VERTICAL. The first stroke is more to the left in ソ, while ン’s first stroke is right above the MIDDLE of the bottom stroke.
ン
ソ
Font Examples
ん ン
ん ン
ん ン
ん ン
ん ン
Typing
Hiragana ん
Type the letters “nn”.
Katakana ン
Type “nn” and press the F7 key, or press spacebar until the katakana appears.
Word(s)
おかあさん
mother
カン
(tin/aluminum) can
かんたん
easy
No word in the Japanese language begins with ん.
ん？！ you might say.
And I’d respond… well, except for that.
Historical Form
Hiragana
无→ん
HISTORICAL VERSION
Katakana
尓→ン
PART BORROWED
