Japenese: は and わ
は I know is written in letter form as ha わ I know is written in letter form as wa
But they both make the seemingly same "wa" sound?
Does anyone know how I can differentiate the two? Or do I just have to memorize?
It's really confusing... I thought maybe someone made a mistake at first but I was told this sound pronunciation is correct.
4 Comments
は is ha, わ is wa. But sometimes は may be read as "wa", when it is used as a particle.
I have the same issue too but I think when ha is part of a word like hajememashite its pronounced ha but when its a topic particle, like in between words, its pronounced wa
Example: 田中さんは日本人です is pronounced "Tanaka-san wa nihonjindesu" The ha is in between Mr. Tanaka (Tanaka-san) and nihonjindesu (Japanese (person)) so it is pronounced wa. Maybe its pronounced wa when it is in a situation where it equals "is".
But remember I'm not an expert it's just from experience :)
