な

Imagine a nun kneeling down in front of a cross. This character is spelled “na” and sounds similar to the beginning of “nun”.

に

This character looks like the outside of a leg and a kneecap. It’s spelled "ni" and make the same sound as "knee".

ぬ

Imagine a pair of chopsticks with noodles wrapped around them. This character is spelled “nu” and sounds like the “noo” in “noodles”.

ね

This character looks like a cat with a curled tail sitting down. The Japanese word for cat is “neko”, and this character makes the “ne” at the beginning.

の

This looks like a circle with a slash through it, indicating “no smoking”. It’s pronounced “no”.