Different Uses of Hiragana

[karis]

Hi there.

I'm just learning Hiragana, and I'm VERY confused that this website and my book has very different kana for Su.

There are others, but I wanted to know: why is this the case?

I know the FAQ mentions it, but which is correct and how do I learn words, if the Kana are different.

It's all very puzzling

Thanks in advance

Karis

[Gaijinian]

Hiragana: (eg あ　い　う　え　お) is for Japanese words. Sushi is すし.

Katakana: (eg ア　イ　ウ　エ　オ) is for gairaigo, which are foreign words. America is アメリカ

Let's just leave it at that.

[mandolin]

Well, Gaijinian is thinking the same thing I am, I believe. You may be looking at the hiragana vs the katakana for 'su'?

す　and 　ス　?

If those are the two, then your answer is as simple as Gaijinian posted. If it's something else totally bizarre, I have no idea what your book has for 'su'. It'd help if you could provide an image, or at least a description of what yours looks like.

The only hiragana form of 'su' that I know of or have ever seen is す.

[karis]

Oops. It's actually SA (not SU), and it's definitely different in my book to the one on this site.

I've since read that there are different forms of hiragana depending on style...

Can anyone clarify? I'm going to use the one listed here rather than in the book from which I am learning. It seems much easier.

Maybe the book's wrong.

Karis

[yankumi]

I have noticed differences in sa--the curved part at the bottom is shown as a separate stroke in some of my books, rather than a continuous one like さ　I have also noticed this with ri and chi. According to some of the other members here, these are just differences in font styles. It is confusing when you are first learning, but after a while you will be able to recognize both as being the same character

[Schattenjedi]

DonnaP wrote:
I have noticed differences in sa--the curved part at the bottom is shown as a separate stroke in some of my books, rather than a continuous one like さ　I have also noticed this with ri and chi. According to some of the other members here, these are just differences in font styles. It is confusing when you are first learning, but after a while you will be able to recognize both as being the same character

On computers, the bottom stroke in さ is connected to the vertical stroke, when handwritten it is not.

[yankumi]

ah, thank you. That would explain why the book I have on writing Hiragana shows the strokes as separate.