Transcribing Double Consonants

There is another small letter つ , which is used when transcribing double consonants such as な and か .

  • かった katta (won)

Note double consonant n’s as in sannen (three years) are written with ん + a hiragana with an initial ん sound ( な , に , ぬ , ね , and の ).

  • さんねん sannen (three years)
  • あんない annai (guide)
Vowels to Be Dropped

The vowels i and u are sometimes dropped when placed between voiceless consonants (k, s, t, p, and h), or at the end of an utterance preceded by voiceless consonants.

すきです s(u)kides(u) (I like it.)