12057
What are these in hiragana typing when I want to type `wa`?

![typing wa](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rTsva.png)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-04T19:45:38.600
12056
2013-06-16T13:59:07.447
2013-06-05T04:36:52.830
3547
3547
question
words hiragana
What are these suggestions in hiragana typing?
Well, only one is a hiragana, namely わ. It even says so next to it (ひらがな), but
written _in hiragana_.

There is only one way forward for you: [learn
hiragana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana).

The cursive-like appearance itself gives it practically away, but if you're
interested in learning Japanese, learning hiragana is the best starting point.

The other suggestions in the list are
[kanji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji), which (among other groups of
characters) you need to [write
Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system).

These are simply the choices Word gives when "wa" is input using the keyboard;
The desired character is marked by using the space bar to scroll the options,
and when the desired choice is highlighted, hitting Enter selects it for the
text.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-04T19:56:14.390
12057
2013-06-16T13:59:07.447
2013-06-16T13:59:07.447
-1
1628
12056
answer
Japanese input methods on computers rely on the phonetic entry of text using
the latin alphabet. The patterns which are entered are matched in a
dictionary, which provides possible completions for the unit which was typed.
More than one words or word fragments correspond to "WA", and are written
using different kanji. The "WA" you have highlighted, 和, has the meaning of
"peace", "harmony" and in the Japanese language it also denotes "Japan" or
"Japanese way". It is found in compounds like 和服 (wafuku): Japanese style
traditional clothing (as opposed to 洋服 (youfuku) which is Western clothing),
or 和紙 (washi) which is traditional Japanese paper. Another very familiar "WA"
which I see there is 話, which means "talk", and is part of compounds like 電話
(denwa): telephone.

When you're trying to write, just ignore the completions that you don't
understand. If you know that what you're trying to write is written using
certain characters, then you can choose that spelling. Otherwise, just choose
the hiragana. Using the incorrect kanji is worse than spelling it out with
hiragana. For instance but suppose you wrote "denwa" as 電和. This misspelling
is more confusing to readers than でんわ. (No properly developed IME would offer
such a misspelling as a choice for "denwa", but it's possible to type "den"
and "wa" separately and choose those characters individually.)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-04T22:00:39.450
12058
2013-06-04T22:00:39.450
1266
12056
answer