Katakana basics: the 46 characters and how to read them

Katakana is the second Japanese syllabary. It has exactly the same sounds as hiragana, but the shapes are more angular and made of short, straight strokes. Because you already know the sounds, learning katakana is mostly about learning new shapes.

When is katakana used?

• Words borrowed from other languages: カメラ (kamera, camera), テレビ (terebi, TV).
• Foreign names of people, countries and cities: インド (Indo, India), ベトナム (Betonamu, Vietnam). Your own name is usually written in katakana too.
• Sound words and emphasis, a little like italics in English. You will often see katakana on signs, menus and product packages.

The katakana chart

row	a	i	u	e	o
—	ア a	イ i	ウ u	エ e	オ o
k	カ ka	キ ki	ク ku	ケ ke	コ ko
s	サ sa	シ shi	ス su	セ se	ソ so
t	タ ta	チ chi	ツ tsu	テ te	ト to
n	ナ na	ニ ni	ヌ nu	ネ ne	ノ no
h	ハ ha	ヒ hi	フ fu	ヘ he	ホ ho
m	マ ma	ミ mi	ム mu	メ me	モ mo
y	ヤ ya		ユ yu		ヨ yo
r	ラ ra	リ ri	ル ru	レ re	ロ ro
w	ワ wa				ヲ o
n	ン n

Dakuten and handakuten work exactly as in hiragana: カ → ガ (ga), サ → ザ (za), タ → ダ (da), ハ → バ (ba) and パ (pa). ヲ exists but is very rarely used.

Shapes you already know

Some katakana look like a simpler, squarer version of their hiragana partner. These are a good place to start:

• カ / か (ka), キ / き (ki), セ / せ (se), モ / も (mo), ヤ / や (ya), リ / り (ri).
• ヘ and へ (he) are almost identical.
• ニ (ni) looks like に without its left stroke. It also looks exactly like the kanji 二に (two); the context tells you which one it is.

Look-alike pairs to watch

• シ (shi) and ツ (tsu): シ has its two short strokes on the left, one above the other, and its long stroke is written upwards from the bottom left. ツ has its two short strokes side by side along the top, and its long stroke goes downwards from the top right.
• ソ (so) and ン (n): the same idea. ソ’s short stroke sits at the top and its long stroke goes down; ン’s short stroke sits on the left and its long stroke goes up from the bottom.
• ク (ku), ケ (ke) and タ (ta): ケ’s horizontal line sticks out to the right; タ is ク with one extra short stroke inside.
• ウ (u) and ワ (wa): ウ has a small stroke on top; ワ does not.
• ノ (no), メ (me) and ヌ (nu): メ is ノ with a crossing stroke; ヌ has a flat top.
• コ (ko), ユ (yu) and ロ (ro): コ and ユ are both open on the left, but ユ’s bottom line is longer and sticks out past the right side; ロ is a closed square.
• チ (chi) and テ (te): チ starts with a short slanted stroke and its vertical line crosses the horizontal line; テ starts with a flat line.

How words change in katakana

Katakana words are written by sound, not by spelling, and they follow Japanese sound rules:

• Every consonant needs a vowel after it, so vowels are added: tennis → テニス (tenisu), hotel → ホテル (hoteru). After t and d the added vowel is usually o: tomato → トマト.
• English l and r both become the r row: melon → メロン (meron).
• v usually becomes b: television → テレビ (terebi).

Common mistakes

• Mixing up シ and ツ, or ソ and ン. Check the direction of the long stroke.
• Pronouncing katakana words the English way. Say each character as a full syllable: カメラ is ka-me-ra.
• Writing katakana with curved, hiragana-like strokes. Keep the strokes short and straight.

Coming next: many loanwords also need the long-vowel mark ー, a small ッ and small ャ ュ ョ. These are covered in Lesson 5.

How to practise

• Learn katakana row by row, comparing each one with its hiragana partner.
• Practise the look-alike pairs on the worksheet until you can write them without checking.
• Read katakana around you: menus, product labels, station signs.
• Read the vocabulary below with the romaji hidden, then take the quiz.