る (ru), hiragana basic
る
ru
ら row · u column
hiraganabasic1 stroke
Stroke order
Pronunciation
Tap the tip of your tongue once against the ridge just behind your upper teeth, then say u. Use a quick tap, not a held English r.
katakana counterpart
Similar characters
Words with る
春はるspring
食べるたべるeat
起きるおきるget up; wake up
How to remember it
るCompare ろ: る curls into a small loop at the bottom. Imagine rolling a ribbon into that last loop: ru.
Where it comes from
留る
る developed from the cursive writing of 留. Its small lower loop distinguishes it from ろ, whose source is different.