Romaji Input Chart & How to Learn It — Including the Tricky Kana

Don't memorize romaji — learn the “consonant+vowel = one kana” rule and your most-used rows first. That's the fastest path.

Before the full charts, the load-bearing point. The core of learning romaji input is just one thing:

• Learn the consonant+vowel rule, not the whole table

  In romaji input, almost every sound is consonant + vowel making one kana: か = K+A, さ = S+A. Hold that one rule and you don't need to memorize the kana table — you'll learn it naturally, row by row, as you type your most-used rows.

• Only the “special” sounds trip you up. Lock them in once

  What makes your hands freeze is just the slightly irregular sounds: し, つ, ん, small kana, and contracted sounds. Check them once in the tables here and your mid-typing hesitations drop sharply.

One more freeing fact: the same sound often has more than one spelling. し can be typed shi or si. There's no need to agonize over “which is correct?” — use whichever is easier for you. Stumbling isn't about talent; you just hadn't learned the rule. Lock it in with the charts, then learn the rest by typing.

Romaji input is the method of typing Japanese by entering each kana as a combination of Latin letters. あ is A, か is KA, さくら is SAKURA — and on screen the romaji is automatically converted to hiragana. It's by far the most common way to type Japanese.

A common beginner misunderstanding: “do I switch to English mode?” It's the opposite. Romaji input works when your Japanese IME is on and you press the alphabet keys — they get converted to kana. You switch to half-width alphanumeric mode only when you want letters to stay as letters.

Since the keys you press are letters, there are only two things to learn: where each letter is on the keyboard, and the romaji spellings. The first is covered in the Home Row Position — Complete Visual Guide; the second is the subject of this article.

The foundation of romaji input is one rule: consonant + vowel makes one kana. There are five vowels — A, I, U, E, O — and you combine each row's consonant with them.

The か row's consonant is K, so か = KA, き = KI, く = KU, け = KE, こ = KO. The さ row's consonant is S: さ = SA, し = SI (or SHI), す = SU, and so on. Only the あ row has no consonant — it's the bare vowels (A, I, U, E, O).

In other words, once you know the five vowels and each row's consonant, most of the kana table assembles itself. That's why memorizing isn't needed. First, get a feel for this consonant+vowel pattern in the chart below.

Start with the basic kana. Columns are the vowels (a/i/u/e/o), rows are the consonant rows. The あ row is the bare vowels; the rest are consonant+vowel. Type along, starting from the rows you use most.

You may have noticed that し, つ, and ふ have more than one spelling. We collect all of those in the “tricky sounds” section below. First, aim to type the あ row and your common rows (か, さ, た, な) without thinking.

Voiced sounds like が and ば (with the two-dot mark) and semi-voiced ぱ (with the circle) follow the same consonant+vowel logic. Just swap the base row's consonant for the voiced one: か K → が G, さ S → ざ Z, and so on.

Note that じ = JI, ぢ = DI, and づ = DU — similar sounds, different spellings. In real text じ is far more common, so learning JI (or ZI) first is plenty.

Sounds with a small ゃ/ゅ/ょ — きゃ, しゅ, ちょ — are called contracted sounds (youon). No need to overthink them: the base pattern is consonant + Y + vowel. き K plus Y and A gives きゃ = KYA. Only しゃ, ちゃ, and じゃ have extra spellings.

Contracted sounds look numerous, but the rule is just one: consonant + Y + vowel. Don't try to learn them all at once — start with common ones like しゃ/しゅ/しょ and ちゃ/ちゅ/ちょ and get used to them by typing.

The small っ (sokuon) is the classic first stumble — but the rule is dead simple: double the consonant of the sound that comes next.

きって: the sound after っ is て (TE), so double the T → KITTE. がっこう: the next is こ (KO), so GAKKOU. ざっし: the next is し (SHI), so ZASSHI. Doubling a consonant = a small っ.

If doubling ever feels unclear, you can type っ on its own with LTU or XTU (we cover small-kana spellings in the table below). But doubling the consonant is faster in practice, so get used to that first.

You can always type ん reliably with NN (two N's): ほん = HONN, みかん = MIKANN. Remember “ん = NN” and you'll never get it wrong.

A single N can also work when a consonant follows: かんじ = KANJI gives ん correctly (J is a consonant after N). But when a vowel or Y follows, a single N can turn into a な-row sound — ほんや (bookstore) typed as HONYA becomes ほにゃ. The correct form is HONNYA.

When in doubt, NN is safe. Especially the ん at the end of a word or phrase (before conversion is confirmed): a single N can get pulled into the next input, so use NN at the end.

For long vowels written in hiragana — おかあさん, とおく — just type the extended vowel as is: おかあさん = OKAASAN, とおく = TOOKU. There's no special symbol; you simply type one more vowel.

The katakana long-vowel mark ー is the one that trips people up. Type it with the “-” (hyphen/minus) key, the one to the right of 0. ラーメン is RA → ー → MEN, or in keys, RA[-]MEN.

Many people freeze on katakana words like コーヒー or ゲーム because they can't produce ー — but once you know where it is, it's one key. It sits at the top-right, a bit far from home position, so check its location in the Home Row Position — Complete Visual Guide to make it smooth.

This is the most important table in the article. It collects the sounds beginners freeze on, the spellings that have multiple options, katakana-specific sounds, and how to type small kana on their own. Come back here whenever you're stuck. Where a sound has more than one spelling, just pick whichever is easier.

Two takeaways from this table. First, the same sound often has multiple spellings (し = SHI and SI are both correct) — none is “wrong,” so use whichever is easier. Second, small kana can be typed on their own by prefixing L or X — a handy backup when a contracted or doubled sound breaks.

You don't have to learn every table at once. There's an order that doesn't stall. Go top to bottom, learning by typing.

1. 01.1. Type the あ row (vowels A, I, U, E, O) without looking
2. 02.2. Internalize the consonant+vowel rule (か=KA, さ=SA…)
3. 03.3. Get used to your common rows (か, さ, た, な, は)
4. 04.4. Add voiced & semi-voiced sounds (が=GA, ざ=ZA, ぱ=PA)
5. 05.5. Lock in contracted sounds (きゃ=KYA) and the special sounds (し, つ, ん, small kana) from the tables

The key to this order is that steps 1 and 2 build a foundation you never have to memorize. Once the five vowels and the consonant addition are in your hands, steps 3 onward type almost automatically. Just return to the tricky-sounds table here for the sounds that still stall you.

Romaji input won't move your fingers from staring at tables alone. Learning by typing is the fastest route — confirm each rule you read by moving your hands on the spot.

Typing Musou's Home Position Dojo is a step-by-step lesson where a master guides you one key at a time. Early on it has you actually type “consonant+vowel,” so the rules in this article go straight into your hands. It runs 100 stages across 10 chapters. It's completely free, browser-based, and no login required, playable on PC, phone, and tablet (a physical keyboard is more comfortable for serious speed).

And which sounds or rows trip you up isn't a guess — it's a number. After each Dojo mode, your weak keys (most-missed keys) are shown automatically, so weaknesses like “I always stall on the は row” or “my right-hand keys are weak” become visible. Targeting those is far more efficient than typing blindly. For typing without looking, see How to Learn Touch Typing; for getting faster, How to Get Faster at Typing.

• Q. Is し SHI or SI — which is correct?

  Both are correct. Romaji input offers multiple spellings for the same sound, so し works as either SHI or SI. Likewise つ = TSU / TU, ち = CHI / TI, ふ = FU / HU. Pick whichever is more intuitive, has fewer keystrokes, or is simply easier for you.

• Q. How do I type the small っ?

  Usually you just double the consonant of the next sound: きって = KITTE (next is TE, so double the T), がっこう = GAKKOU. If you ever need it on its own, LTU or XTU also work. Doubling the consonant is faster in practice, so get used to that first.

• Q. Is ん one N or two?

  When in doubt, two N's (NN) is safe: ほん = HONN. A single N also works when a consonant follows (かんじ = KANJI). But if a vowel or Y follows it can become a different sound (ほんや = HONNYA; HONYA gives ほにゃ), so use NN in that case and at the end of a word.

• Q. Do I have to memorize all of romaji?

  No — memorizing isn't needed. Romaji input is almost entirely explained by the consonant+vowel rule, so once you know the five vowels (A, I, U, E, O) and each row's consonant, most of the kana table assembles itself. Learn your common rows by typing, and just check the tricky sounds in this article's tables.

• Q. Which key is the katakana long mark ー?

  It's the “-” (hyphen/minus) key, to the right of 0. For ラーメン, type RA → that key → MEN. For long vowels written in hiragana (おかあさん = OKAASAN), just type the extended vowel as is — no special symbol needed.

• Q. Is there a free place to practice romaji input?

  Yes. The competitive typing game Typing Musou is completely free, browser-based, and no login required, and its Home Position Dojo lets you learn consonant+vowel by actually typing. After each mode it shows your weak keys (most-missed keys), so you can see exactly which sounds trip you up.

Learning romaji input isn't about memorizing the kana table. The core is one rule: consonant + vowel = one kana. Hold the five vowels and each row's consonant, and most of it types itself. What freezes your hands is only the special sounds — し, つ, ん, small kana, contracted sounds — and those are solved by checking this article's tables once. Knowing that the same sound often has multiple spellings (し = SHI or SI) helps too.

Stumbling isn't about talent — you just hadn't learned the rule yet. Glance at the tables if you need to, and spend 10 minutes today typing for real. Once the あ row and your common rows come without thinking, your romaji-input foundation is already complete.