In Hiragana, often it is necessary to have a long vowel. The sound of the vowel is held for a long vowel.
there is a convention for how to write double consonants in Hiragana that has few exceptions (these exceptions need to be learned).
For a syllable ending with an A that needs a doubled A, merely write an after.
For a syllable ending with an I that needs a doubled I, merely write an after.
For a syllable ending with an U that needs a doubled U, merely write an after.
However, for most syllables ending with an E that needs a doubled E, write instead an after.
And for most syllables ending with an O that needs a doubled O, writed instead an after.
for example:

OBASAN		OBAASAN
TOTTE		TOOTTE
KIRE		KIREE

To hear the sounds, click on any of them.

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