Mimi

← Kana

Katakana

The same 46 sounds as hiragana, drawn with straighter strokes. Katakana writes foreign and borrowed words — which makes it the friendliest script in Japanese: sound a word out and you'll often find it's English wearing a disguise.

The basic 46

Vowels

a
i
u
e
o

K row

ka
ki
ku
ke
ko

S row

sa
shi
su
se
so

T row

ta
chi
tsu
te
to

N row

na
ni
nu
ne
no

H row

ha
hi
fu
he
ho

M row

ma
mi
mu
me
mo

Y row

ya
yu
yo

R row

ra
ri
ru
re
ro

W row

wa
wo
n

Voiced sounds (dakuten)

G row

ga
gi
gu
ge
go

Z row

za
ji
zu
ze
zo

D row

da
ji
zu
de
do

B row

ba
bi
bu
be
bo

P row

pa
pi
pu
pe
po

Sound it out — what's the English?

kaato — cart — yes, the English word! From N4 Unit 2

reji — checkout (from "register") — N4 Unit 2

pan — bread (via Portuguese) — all over N4 Unit 1

chiizu — cheese — N4 Unit 2 story

Watch out: katakana holds the site's most famous look-alike pair, and. Theconfusables page has the trick that makes them stick.

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