Seven hiragana pairs that trip people up

ぬ (nu) vs め (me)

The start is identical. The ending is not. ぬ curls around at the bottom right into a closed loop; め just exits without one.

They come from 奴 and 女. 奴 has an extra 又 on the right, and it helps to think of that 又’s tail as the loop that stayed behind.

Loop = ぬ. No loop = め.

れ (re) vs わ (wa) vs ね (ne)

All three share the same left vertical. Only the right-hand ending differs.

• れ — flicks outward and upward at the bottom right. No loop.
• わ — curls inward and stops. No loop.
• ね — curls inward and then goes around once more, closing a loop.

Only ね has a loop. Of the other two, flicking out is れ and curling in is わ.

さ (sa) vs き (ki)

Count the horizontals. さ has one, き has two.

By origin, さ comes from 左 and き from 幾. 幾 has far more strokes, so it makes sense that one extra horizontal survived.

は (ha) vs ほ (ho)

Horizontals again. は has one on the right side, ほ has two. ほ is the one with the extra line.

る (ru) vs ろ (ro)

A loop at the end is る; sliding straight out is ろ. Exactly the same rule as ぬ and め.

あ (a) vs お (o)

あ crosses a horizontal and a vertical, then sweeps around into a big loop below. お crosses, exits to the right, and has a separate dot at the upper right.

The fastest rule: if there is a dot, it is お.

い (i) vs り (ri)

Both are two strokes, but the lengths differ. In い both strokes are short and the left one curves down slightly. In り the right stroke runs much further down and flicks to the left.

In handwriting the two strokes of り are sometimes joined at the top. Both forms are correct.