1: Double Vowels

Double vowels double the length of a vowel and are written like this: ああ, まあ, しい, くう, etc. The え+え sound may be written either as ええ or えい depending on the words. For example, へえ is an exclamation ("Wow!") and へい is a "fence." Similarly, the お+お sound may be written as おお or おう depending on the words. Both こお and こう are pronounced like call, NOT like cool. Even though the pronunciations are the same, they are NOT interchangeable. When pronouncing each double vowel sound, do not separate it into two distinct vowels (e.g., たあ should be pronounced continuously, not like た, あ). Caution to native English speakers: -oo- combinations sound like awe, call, talk, etc. NOT like woo, tool, took, etc. The following are examples of double vowels.

ああ いい うう ええ, えい おお, おう
かあ きい くう けえ, けい こお, こう
があ ぎい ぐう げえ, げい ごお, ごう
さあ しい すう せえ, せい そお, そう
ざあ じい ずう ぜえ, ぜい ぞお, ぞう
たあ ちい つう てえ, てい とお, とう
だあ ぢい づう でえ, でい どお, どう
なあ にい ぬう ねえ, ねい のお, のう
はあ ひい ふう へえ, へい ほお, ほう
ばあ びい ぶう べえ, べい ぼお, ぼう
ぱあ ぴい ぷう ぺえ, ぺい ぽお, ぽう
まあ みい むう めえ, めい もお, もう
やあ ゆう よお, よう
らあ りい るう れえ, れい ろお, ろう
わあ

The following are examples of words using double vowels.

まあ well... とおり: street. とうり is misspelled.
いいです it's good えいご: English. ええご is misspelled.
つうきん commuting to work きれい: pretty. きれえ is misspelled.
ねえ interjection to get attention おはよう: Good morning. おはよお is misspelled.
おおきい large きのう: yesterday. きのお is misspelled.

2: Double Vowel Exercises

A: Read the hiragana words below and confirm your pronunciation by clicking on the audio icons. Note that differences in vowel length result in completely different words.
1. おばさん aunt
2. おばあさん grandmother
3. いえ house
4. いいえ No.
5. くき plant stem (Note: The short く sound is de-voiced here.)
6. くうき air
7. え picture
8. ええ yes
9. おい nephew
10. おおい numerous
B: Read the hiragana words below and confirm your pronunciation by clicking on the audio icons. Note that い is used to represent -e-, and う is used to represent -o-.
1. きれい pretty
2. えいが movie
3. けいたい cell phone
4. とけい clock, watch
5. おはよう

good morning
6. ありがとう Thank you
7. ぎんこう bank
8. どうも Thanks

3: Double Consonants (Pause in Air Flow)

Double consonants represent a momentary pause in air flow. This is written by a small (half-height) hiragana small hiragana "tsu" as shown below. Listen to the following words.

き た came
き っ た cut
き い た asked, listened

We refer to this pause in air flow as double consonants due to the fact that when these are written in romaji, we use two consonant characters like -kk-, -ss-, -tt-, -pp- and so on (きった is written in romaji as "k-i-t-t-a" and きいた as "k-i-i-t-a"). The Japanese perceive each pause as having the same length as one "syllable." This means both きった and きいた are perceived as having three syllables and the same length.

Note that a small hiragana small hiragana "tsu" and a full-size hiragana are pronounced differently as shown below.

さ き
さ っ き a while ago
さ つ き azalea

Exception: The romaji sequence -nn- is NOT double consonants (it is a syllabic ん), so a small small hiragana "tsu" is not used to write -nn-. See how the word こんな (3 syllables) is spelled in romaji and compare it to the word こな (2 syllables) below.

こ ん な this kind of
こ な powder

4: Double Consonant Exercises

A: Click on the audio icons below and compare the pronunciation. yellow flag Double consonants -ss- (as in -issho-) sound like a prolonged -s- sound (i-sss-sho) rather than as a pause (i [pause] sho).
1. かこ past
2. かっこ parenthesis
3. いしょ will
4. いっしょyellow flag together
5. いち one
6. いっち agreement
B: Listen to each word, and match it with the correct word in hiragana.
1. きて (Come!) きって (stamp)
2. いしゃ (physician) いっしゃ (one company)
3. みつ (honey) みっつ (three things)
4. はか (grave) はっか (mint)
C: Match the word and its pronunciation below.
1. きって stamp Come!
2. ぶっか subordinate prices
3. いっしょ will together
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