よ (yo) – Hiragana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘yo’. Imagine the way ‘o’ is pronounced in ‘ore’ and place a ‘y’ in front of it to make the sound – ‘yo’.

About

よ, in hiragana, or ヨ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in two strokes, while the katakana in three.

When small and preceded by an -i kana, this kana represents not a separate sound but a modification of that of another.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: This is a picture of someone playing with a ‘yo-yo’. The straight line represents the finger and the curley bit at the end is the actual yo-yo itself.

Mnemonic 2: Imagine the letter y undergoing a metamorphosis. First its head tilts to the right, then its tail curls round forming the letter o.