The N Row: Curves and Loops That Trip You Up

Five kana that all want to be a loop

The n-row is な に ぬ ね の. Look at them together and you see the problem: four of the five end in a loop or a curl on the right side. At slow speed you can tell them apart. At reading speed, your eye sees "something with a loop" and moves on before your brain has decided which one.

That is what today fixes.

The shapes, one by one

な — a cross on the left, then a small loop at the bottom right. Think of it as a plus sign that grew a tail. It is the only n-row kana with a clear horizontal stroke crossing a vertical one.

に — a vertical stroke on the left, then two short horizontal strokes on the right. No loop at all. If you are hunting for a loop and find none, it is probably に.

ぬ — this is め with a loop tied at the end. It has a diagonal stroke through the middle and a curl that crosses itself. The crossing is the giveaway: ぬ is the only one that visibly ties a knot.

ね — a vertical stroke on the left, then a shape like a cursive "z" that ends in a loop. It looks like れ and わ, which you will meet later, but for now: ね has a loop at the bottom right, and the loop sits low.

の — one single stroke, a spiral. Nothing else in the row is a single stroke. If it is one continuous curl, it is の.

Reading without pausing

Here are three words that use the row. Read them out loud, then read them again faster.

• 猫（ねこ）— cat
• 犬（いぬ）— dog
• 夏（なつ）— summer

Notice that いぬ has ぬ in the middle, not ね. If you swap them you get いね, which is not a word you need. That is the kind of mistake that costs you a second, and a second is enough to lose the sentence.

Try this pair: ねこ and ぬこ. The second is not standard Japanese — it is sometimes used informally for "cat" online, but do not rely on it. The point is that your eye should catch the difference between ね and ぬ immediately. ね has a straight left stroke; ぬ has a diagonal through the middle.

Typing drill

Type each word five times without looking at the kana chart. Say the reading as you type.

1. なつ (natsu)
2. いぬ (inu)
3. ねこ (neko)
4. のり (nori) — seaweed
5. なに (nani) — what

If you are on a phone in your city, the flick keyboard will test you harder than a full keyboard, because each key holds a whole row. That is a good thing. Struggle a little now.

The trap: ね versus れ versus わ

You have not met れ and わ yet, so this is just a warning. They share the same left vertical stroke and a right-side curl. The difference is where the curl goes. ね loops back on itself. れ ends in a downward flick. わ is rounder and the curl stays open. For today, just make sure ね is solid. Tomorrow's row will not test it, but day 7 will.

A note on yesterday

Yesterday's t-row drill on つ versus し was about curve direction. Today is about loops. Same skill: slow down just enough to see the shape, then speed up again.

What to do next

Write な に ぬ ね の ten times each, saying the sound. Then cover the chart and write ねこ, いぬ, なつ from memory. If you get ぬ and ね mixed up, that is normal on day five. Come back to this page tomorrow before the h-row and do the three words again.