Katakana in Japanese

In Brief

Katakana is one of the two Japanese phonetic scripts: its basic characters represent the same sounds as hiragana, but have different shapes and uses. It appears especially in foreign loanwords such as コーヒー (“coffee”), names such as アメリカ (“America”), sound effects, and words given visual emphasis. Learn to read each symbol as a Japanese sound rather than trying to recover the original English spelling.

Overview

Katakana (カタカナ) is a syllabary—a writing system in which most symbols represent a whole beat such as ka, shi, or mo, rather than a single consonant. Modern Japanese uses katakana alongside hiragana and kanji. Hiragana commonly writes grammatical endings and many native Japanese words; kanji carry much of the lexical meaning; katakana has a set of more specialised jobs. A normal sentence can contain all three scripts.

This is an A1 foundation. If you already know hiragana, the sound system is familiar: か and カ are both ka, while し and シ are both shi. The challenge is learning a second set of shapes and recognising the conventions that are especially visible in loanwords.

English speakers often recognise the source behind a word and then guess its pronunciation. That habit is unreliable. Japanese reshapes borrowed words to fit Japanese sound patterns: “restaurant” becomes レストラン (resutoran), and “personal computer” is shortened to パソコン (pasokon). Katakana tells you how the Japanese word is pronounced, not how its source word is spelled.

How It Works

The 46 basic characters

The five vowel characters form the first row. Most later rows combine a consonant with the same five vowels. The usual chart order runs from right to left in Japanese reference tables, but the left-to-right arrangement below is convenient for English-language study.

Row	a	i	u	e	o
Vowels	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 wo/o
Final nasal	ン n	—	—	—	—

Japanese r in ラ, リ, ル, レ, ロ is a brief tap; it is not exactly the English r or l. フ begins with a light sound made with both lips, often approximated as fu. ヲ is uncommon in ordinary katakana words; when it occurs, it is normally pronounced o in modern Japanese.

Voiced and “p” sounds

Two small marks modify certain characters. A dakuten (the two strokes ゛) voices the consonant: roughly, k becomes g, s becomes z, t becomes d, and h becomes b. A handakuten (the circle ゜) changes the H row to the P row.

Base row	Modified characters	Common readings
K	ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ	ga gi gu ge go
S	ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ	za ji zu ze zo
T	ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド	da ji zu de do
H	バ ビ ブ ベ ボ	ba bi bu be bo
H + circle	パ ピ プ ペ ポ	pa pi pu pe po

In standard modern pronunciation, ジ and ヂ are usually alike, as are ズ and ヅ. The rarer ヂ and ヅ are not interchangeable spelling choices; established spelling determines which one is written.

Small ャ, ュ, and ョ

A small ャ, ュ, or ョ after an i-row character creates one combined sound. These combinations are called yōon (contracted sounds, where two written characters form one sound unit).

Pattern	Reading	Example
キャ / キュ / キョ	kya / kyu / kyo	キャベツ kyabetsu, cabbage
シャ / シュ / ショ	sha / shu / sho	シャワー shawā, shower
チャ / チュ / チョ	cha / chu / cho	チョコ choko, chocolate
ニャ / ニュ / ニョ	nya / nyu / nyo	ニュース nyūsu, news
ヒャ / ヒュ / ヒョ	hya / hyu / hyo	ヒューマン hyūman, human
ミャ / ミュ / ミョ	mya / myu / myo	ミュージアム myūjiamu, museum
リャ / リュ / リョ	rya / ryu / ryo	リュック ryukku, backpack
ギャ / ジャ / ビョ, etc.	gya / ja / byo, etc.	ジャズ jazu, jazz

Size matters. キヤ is kiya, with two full vowel beats; キャ is kya, one combined unit.

Small ッ: a doubled consonant

Small ッ marks a pause or held consonant before the next character. Linguists call this gemination (making a consonant longer). In カップ (kappu, cup), stop briefly after カ before releasing the p. It is not pronounced tsu.

Compare ビル (biru, building) with ビール (bīru, beer), and サカ (saka) with サッカー (sakkā, soccer). Length changes the rhythm and can distinguish words.

Long vowels and the mark ー

Katakana commonly extends a vowel with ー, the long-vowel mark. Hold the preceding vowel for one extra beat:

• カー = kā
• キー = kī
• クー = kū
• ケー = kē
• コー = kō

After a combined sound, use the vowel heard at the end: コーヒー is kōhī, ニュース is nyūsu, and ショー is shō. In horizontal writing, ー is horizontal; in vertical Japanese text, it is printed vertically.

The final nasal ン

ン represents a nasal beat. Its exact sound shifts slightly before different consonants, but beginners can treat it as a separate n-like beat. In レストラン (resutoran), the final ン counts as its own rhythmic unit. Be careful not to confuse ン with ソ, or シ with ツ: the direction and position of the strokes distinguish these pairs.

What katakana is used for

Katakana does not mean “an English word written in Japanese.” Its main roles are broader:

1. Loanwords: ホテル (hotel), テレビ (television), パン (bread; historically borrowed from Portuguese).
2. Foreign names and places: アメリカ (America), マリア (Maria).
3. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words: ドキドキ (a pounding heart; nervous excitement), ワンワン (a dog’s bark).
4. Emphasis or a distinctive visual tone: similar in function to italics or capitals in some contexts, though not an exact English equivalent.
5. Scientific names and terminology: especially names of animal and plant species in technical contexts.
6. Company, product, and stylistic spellings: writers may choose katakana as part of a name or brand identity.

Examples in Context

Japanese	Romanization	English	Note
コーヒーをください。	Kōhī o kudasai.	Coffee, please.	ー lengthens both vowels.
レストランはどこですか。	Resutoran wa doko desu ka.	Where is the restaurant?	A loanword fitted to Japanese sounds.
パソコンを使います。	Pasokon o tsukaimasu.	I use a computer.	Short for パーソナルコンピューター.
アメリカから来ました。	Amerika kara kimashita.	I came from America.	A foreign place name.
ホテルを予約しました。	Hoteru o yoyaku shimashita.	I booked a hotel.	ホテル is a common loanword.
ニュースを見ます。	Nyūsu o mimasu.	I watch the news.	Small ュ makes nyu; ー extends u.
サッカーが好きです。	Sakkā ga suki desu.	I like soccer.	Small ッ doubles k.
カップに水を入れます。	Kappu ni mizu o iremasu.	I put water in the cup.	Another small-ッ word.
シャワーを浴びます。	Shawā o abimasu.	I take a shower.	Small ャ makes sha.
スーパーでパンを買いました。	Sūpā de pan o kaimashita.	I bought bread at the supermarket.	パン ultimately comes from Portuguese, not English.
ドアがバタンと閉まりました。	Doa ga batan to shimarimashita.	The door closed with a bang.	バタン represents a sound or manner.
テストの前はドキドキします。	Tesuto no mae wa dokidoki shimasu.	My heart pounds before a test.	A mimetic expression for nervous excitement.
このボタンをクリックしてください。	Kono botan o kurikku shite kudasai.	Please click this button.	クリック contains small ッ.
メニューを見せてください。	Menyū o misete kudasai.	Please show me the menu.	Small ュ and a long vowel.

The romanization is a temporary reading aid. Japanese text does not normally display it, so move toward reading the katakana column directly.

Common Mistakes

Reading a loanword as if it were still English

• Wrong: Pronouncing レストラン exactly like English “restaurant.”
• Right: Read the written Japanese beats: re-su-to-ra-n.
• Why: Once borrowed, it is a Japanese word with Japanese pronunciation. Recognising the source helps with meaning, but not enough with sound.

Ignoring the long-vowel mark

• Wrong: コヒ kohi for “coffee.”
• Right: コーヒー kōhī.
• Why: Each ー adds a beat. Leaving it out changes the spelling and pronunciation.

Reading small ッ as ツ

• Wrong: Reading カップ as katsupu.
• Right: kappu, with a short pause before p.
• Why: Small ッ lengthens the following consonant; full-sized ツ is pronounced tsu.

Treating small and full-sized ヤ-row characters alike

• Wrong: Reading ニュース as niyūsu.
• Right: nyūsu.
• Why: Small ュ combines with ニ. Full-sized ニユ would represent separate ni-yu beats.

Mixing up similar shapes

• Wrong: Reading シ (shi) as ツ (tsu), or ン (n) as ソ (so).
• Right: Notice where the short strokes sit and the direction of the long stroke.
• Why: These characters are distinguished by stroke orientation, not just by a rough outline. Learn them in contrasting pairs and write them with consistent stroke order.

Inventing loanword spellings from English

• Wrong: Assuming every English vowel or consonant has a direct katakana equivalent.
• Right: Learn computer → コンピューター and personal computer → パソコン as established Japanese vocabulary.
• Why: Borrowings may reflect older pronunciations, another source language, conventional sound substitutions, or Japanese abbreviations. Katakana conversion is not a simple letter-for-letter code.

Usage Notes

Katakana is neutral and ordinary in words such as テレビ, ホテル, and メニュー. It does not automatically make a word informal or fashionable. However, replacing an expected hiragana or kanji spelling with katakana can create emphasis, emotional distance, a mechanical tone, or a brand-like appearance. The effect depends on the word and context, so beginners should recognise this use before trying to imitate it.

Not every katakana word comes from English. パン came through Portuguese, アルバイト (“part-time job”) from German, and many other words have different histories. Meanings can also shift after borrowing. マンション usually means a modern apartment or condominium building, not an English-style mansion. These are often called “false friends”: familiar-looking words whose Japanese meaning differs from the apparent English source.

Japanese typography may show katakana in full-width or half-width forms. Half-width katakana such as ｶﾀｶﾅ survives in some digital interfaces and older technical environments. Standard learning materials and normal prose use full-width カタカナ, which should be your production model.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following at A1, but you will meet it in names, menus, technology, and newer borrowings. Modern katakana uses small vowels and special combinations to represent foreign sounds more closely than the traditional chart can.

Extended form	Approximate sound	Example
ファ / フィ / フェ / フォ	fa / fi / fe / fo	フォーク fōku, fork
ティ / ディ	ti / di	パーティー pātī, party
トゥ / ドゥ	tu / du	トゥール tūru, Tours/name spelling
ウィ / ウェ / ウォ	wi / we / wo	ウェブ webu, web
ヴァ / ヴィ / ヴ / ヴェ / ヴォ	va / vi / vu / ve / vo	ヴィーガン vīgan, vegan
シェ / ジェ / チェ	she / je / che	シェフ shefu, chef

These spellings are approximations, not perfect copies of foreign sounds. Variation is possible: ヴ represents a v-like sound in spelling, but many speakers pronounce it close to ブ, and established words may use バ-row spellings instead. Foreign names can also have more than one accepted rendering depending on the person’s preference or the source pronunciation.

Long vowels are not always predictable from English spelling. Neither are word boundaries: katakana may use a middle dot ・ between parts of a foreign name, as in レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチ. In casual writing, the dot may be omitted when the divisions remain clear.

Katakana also appears in specialised linguistic notation, telegram-like styles, and deliberate literary voice. Those uses do not change the basic sound values, but they show why “katakana equals foreign words” is only a beginner shortcut, not a complete rule.

Practice Tips

1. Learn by contrast, not only by chart order. Drill シ/ツ, ソ/ン, ク/ケ, and チ/テ side by side. Say the sound while writing each character with the proper stroke direction.
2. Read in beats. Mark long vowels, small ッ, and ン when you copy a word: コ・ー・ヒ・ー and サ・ッ・カ・ー. Tap once per beat so that length becomes audible rather than merely visual.
3. Collect katakana from daily life. Read menus, packaging, maps, and app screens. Record the Japanese pronunciation and meaning, then check whether the word is shortened or has shifted meaning instead of guessing from English.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Hiragana — introduces the same core Japanese sounds in the other phonetic script and makes katakana comparisons much easier.