Voiced vs Unvoiced (清音・濁音): か/が, て/で and the Dots That Change Meaning
Add two small dots, the dakuten (゛), and か turns into が, て into で. That’s the gap between a voiceless sound and a voiced one. Depending on your first language, this is either completely obvious or maddeningly hard to hear. If you’re in the second group, the good news is that it’s very trainable.
What Voicing Means
Voicing is just whether your vocal cords vibrate. Put a hand on your throat and say a long “sss”, then “zzz”. Same mouth shape, but the z buzzes. Japanese か/が, さ/ざ, た/だ, は/ば split along that same line.
English uses all of these contrasts already, so English speakers pick them up easily. If your language doesn’t use voicing to tell words apart, though, きん (gold) and ぎん (silver) can sound like the exact same word for a while. That’s not a flaw in your ear; it’s just a distinction you were never trained to notice.
The Dakuten Pairs
は-row is special: it takes either dakuten (ば, voiced b) or handakuten ゜ (ぱ, p).
Words That Differ by One Dot
Training Your Ear
- Use the throat test. Feel the buzz: voiced sounds vibrate, voiceless ones don’t.
- Drill minimal pairs — きん/ぎん, て/で — back to back until the contrast is obvious.
- Listen for the dots in spelling. Reading helps reinforce a contrast your ear is still learning.
- Be patient. If your language doesn’t use voicing, this takes weeks, not days — and that’s normal.
Teacher's Note
If you still can’t hear か versus が, that’s not a sign you’re bad at Japanese. Your first language never asked you to. I’ve had students who needed a few weeks of the throat-buzz test and daily minimal pairs before it clicked, and then it never un-clicked. Give it time rather than forcing it.
Hear the difference, every word
Nihongo Pass gives you native audio and minimal-pair practice so voicing stops being a guess.
Start Free Training →