Katakana for loanwords: long vowels, small ッ and new sound combinations

Real katakana words — on a café menu, at the supermarket or on a train notice — use a few extra marks that you have not seen yet. Once you know them, you can read almost any loanword. The same small characters are also used in hiragana.

The long-vowel mark ー

In katakana a long vowel is shown with a dash, ー. Hold the vowel before it for about twice as long: ケーキ is kēki (cake), コーヒー is kōhī (coffee). In romaji, long vowels are written with a line on top: ā, ī, ū, ē, ō. In vertical writing the mark becomes a vertical line.

Length changes the meaning. ビル (biru) is a building, but ビール (bīru) is beer.

The small ッ: a short pause

A small ッ does not have a sound of its own. It means “stop briefly, then say the next consonant strongly”, which doubles that consonant in romaji: チケット chiketto (ticket), ベッド beddo (bed), カップ kappu (cup). Before ch, Hepburn writes tch: マッチ matchi (match). Compare the small ッ with the full-size ツ (tsu) carefully.

Small ャ ュ ョ: combined sounds

A character from the i column followed by a small ャ, ュ or ョ makes one combined syllable:

row	ya	yu	yo
k	キャ kya	キュ kyu	キョ kyo
s	シャ sha	シュ shu	ショ sho
t	チャ cha	チュ chu	チョ cho
n	ニャ nya	ニュ nyu	ニョ nyo
h	ヒャ hya	ヒュ hyu	ヒョ hyo
m	ミャ mya	ミュ myu	ミョ myo
r	リャ rya	リュ ryu	リョ ryo
g	ギャ gya	ギュ gyu	ギョ gyo
j	ジャ ja	ジュ ju	ジョ jo
b	ビャ bya	ビュ byu	ビョ byo
p	ピャ pya	ピュ pyu	ピョ pyo

The small character really is smaller. シャ is one syllable, sha; with a full-size ヤ, シヤ would be two syllables, shi-ya. In hiragana it works the same way: しゃ, きょう (kyō, today).

Special combinations for foreign sounds

Katakana also uses small vowels (ァ ィ ゥ ェ ォ) to write sounds that do not exist in traditional Japanese:

• ティ ti — パーティー (pātī, party); ディ di — ディナー (dinā, dinner)
• ファ fa, フィ fi, フェ fe, フォ fo — ファイル (fairu, file), カフェ (kafe, café), フォーク (fōku, fork)
• ウェ we, ウォ wo — ウェブ (webu, web)
• シェ she, ジェ je, チェ che — シェフ (shefu, chef), チェック (chekku, check)
• ヴ vu is sometimes used for the v sound, but many words simply use the b row, and both spellings can appear: バイオリン / ヴァイオリン (violin).

How English words become katakana

• Vowels are added after consonants: milk → ミルク (miruku).
• Long words are often shortened: コンビニ (konbini, convenience store), パソコン (pasokon, personal computer), スマホ (sumaho, smartphone), エアコン (eakon, air conditioner).
• Some words change their meaning. A マンション (manshon) is an apartment or condominium building, not a mansion.
• Not every loanword comes from English: アルバイト (arubaito, part-time job) comes from the German word Arbeit, “work”.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting ー: ビル (building) and ビール (beer) are different words.
• Forgetting the small ッ or writing it full size: ベッド (beddo, bed), not ベド or ベツド.
• Reading small ャ ュ ョ as separate syllables: シャツ is shatsu, not shi-ya-tsu.
• Saying loanwords the English way. Japanese listeners expect the katakana pronunciation: コーヒー is kō-hī.

How to practise

• Read real menus and price tags: almost every drink and many dishes are written in katakana.
• On the worksheet, trace and copy the words, then do the matching exercise.
• Read the vocabulary below aloud, paying attention to long vowels and pauses.
• Take the quiz, then try to write your own name in katakana.