Katakana
Katakana is one of the two Japanese 'syllabaries', the writing systems used to
represent the sounds of Japanese syllables. (The other is hiragana.)
Katakana symbols are used to spell out words phonetically, especially non-Japanese terms.
The term katakana is usually written in Japanese using katakana as カタカナ. However, it originally
came from 片仮名, which means 'fragmentary kana', because most of the characters are actually
fragments of more complex kanji with the same reading.
If you are just starting out with your Japanese studies, you should learn hiragana first. Once you have learnt hiragana, learning katakana is a great second step.
For more information on how to go about learning written Japanese, see our
other detailed guides:
Contents
The basic katakana chart is as follows.
| ア | カ | サ | タ | ナ | ハ | マ | ヤ | ラ | ワ | ン |
| a | ka | sa | ta | na | ha | ma | ya | ra | wa | n |
| イ | キ | シ | チ | ニ | ヒ | ミ | リ | |||
| i | ki | shi | chi | ni | hi | mi | ri | |||
| ウ | ク | ス | ツ | ヌ | フ | ム | ユ | ル | ||
| u | ku | su | tsu | nu | fu | mu | yu | ru | ||
| エ | ケ | セ | テ | ネ | ヘ | メ | レ | ゛ | ||
| e | ke | se | te | ne | he | me | re | dakuten | ||
| オ | コ | ソ | ト | ノ | ホ | モ | ヨ | ロ | ヲ | ゜ |
| o | ko | so | to | no | ho | mo | yo | ro | (w)o | handakuten |
The 'dakuten' symbol ( ゛) and the 'handakuten' symbol ( ゜) are not used on their own -
they are used to modify the katakana symbols they appear after.
When ゛is displayed after
another katakana symbol, it indicates that the symbol should be 'voiced'. 'Voicing' is a linguistic term
for a sound that makes the vocal cords vibrate - as opposed to just emanating from the mouth. In
Japanese, this means that the sound of a consonant moves further down your throat. So, for example, the
unvoiced sound カ (ka) becomes the voiced sound ガ (ga).
When ゜is displayed after a katakana symbol, it changes the sound to a 'p' sound, so for
example,
ハ (ha) becomes パ (pa).
| ガ | ザ | ダ | バ | パ |
| ga | za | da | ba | pa |
| ギ | ジ | ビ | ピ | |
| gi | ji | bi | pi | |
| グ | ズ | ブ | プ | |
| gu | zu | bu | pu | |
| ゲ | ゼ | デ | ベ | ペ |
| ge | ze | de | be | pe |
| ゴ | ゾ | ド | ボ | ポ |
| go | zo | do | bo | po |
The basic katakana can be modified in a couple more ways. Katakana ending in 'i' can
be followed by a small ya, yu or yo (ゃ, ゅ or ょ), which elides the sounds of the two characters. For example,
キ (ki) plus ヤ (ya) would become キャ (kya). This type of modification is known as 'yōon'.
| キャ | ギャ | シャ | ジャ | チャ | ニャ |
| kya | gya | sha | ja | cha | nya |
| キュ | ギュ | シュ | ジュ | チュ | ニュ |
| kyu | gyu | shu | ju | chu | nyu |
| キョ | ギョ | ショ | ジョ | チョ | ニョ |
| kyo | gyo | sho | jo | cho | nyo |
| ヒャ | ビャ | ピャ | ミャ | リャ |
| hya | bya | pya | mya | rya |
| ヒュ | ビュ | ピュ | ミュ | リュ |
| hyu | byu | pyu | myu | ryu |
| ヒョ | ビョ | ピョ | ミョ | リョ |
| hyo | byo | pyo | myo | ryo |
Finally, a small tsu (ッ) can be used between two katakana to double the second consonant. For
example, サッカ is read as 'sakka' (author). This is known as a 'sokuon'.
To learn the katakana, there is no substitute for lots of practice! Practice your recognition with
flashcards (use the link at the top of this guide), and use this section to practice drawing.
Most importantly of all, practice using katakana in context by reading Japanese sentences whenever you can.
Use our Katakana Drawing Practice, or practice any individual
katakana by using one of the links below.
An additional katakana character you will encounter regularly is the lengthening symbol ー, known as . This symbol serves the same function in katakana as う does in hiragana: it lengthens the sound of the previous symbol. For more information, see っ, ッ and ー - emphasis and elongation.
Two more symbols are officially part of katakana: ヽ and ヾ. These are each used to indicate that the previous katakana symbol is repeated - the dakuten form ヾ indicates that it is voiced. For example, サヽキ would be read ササキ. For more details on repetition symbols, see 々, 〻, 〱, ゝ and ヽ - kanji and kana repetition symbols.
Additionally, a number of katakana symbols have fallen into disuse over time, and since katakana is used to represent loan words which might require sounds not present in Japanese, a number of unorthodox combinations of katakana have emerged to try to replicate those sounds more accurately. For more details on both of these areas, see extended and rare katakana.
Kanshudo is your AI Japanese tutor, and your constant companion on the road to mastery of the Japanese language.
To get started learning Japanese, just follow the study recommendations on your Dashboard.
You can use Quick search (accessible using the icon at the top of every page) to look up any Japanese word, kanji or grammar point, as well as to find anything on Kanshudo quickly.
For an overview, take the tour.
