Katakana chart and guide.

Small ッ and long vowels

ッ doubles the next consonant; ー makes the vowel before it long (コーヒー koohii).

In katakana a long vowel is written with the dash ー: コーヒー koohii (coffee), ノート nooto (notebook).

What is katakana used for?

• Words borrowed from other languages: テレビ terebi (TV), パン pan (bread), コーヒー koohii (coffee).
• Foreign names and places, including your own name when you write it in Japanese.
• Sound effects and emphasis, much like italics in English, in signs, ads and manga.

How to learn katakana, step by step

1. Learn hiragana first. Katakana has the same sounds, so you are only learning new shapes.
2. Some katakana look like their hiragana: カ and か, ヘ and へ, リ and り. Learn those first.
3. Watch the look-alike pairs: シ shi and ツ tsu, ン n and ソ so. The direction of the strokes is the difference.
4. Practice with loanwords: read them aloud and guess the English word.
5. Learn the long vowel mark ー early. Most loanwords use it.

Tips for each row

• Vowels: Katakana writes the same sounds as hiragana, mostly for foreign words and names.
• K row: カ looks like the hiragana か without its last stroke.
• S row: シ (shi) and ツ (tsu) look alike: シ's strokes rise from the left, ツ's fall from the top.
• T row: ツ is tsu; compare it with シ.
• N row: N plus each vowel.
• H row: ヘ is almost the same as hiragana へ.
• M row: M plus each vowel.
• Y row: Only three: ya, yu, yo.
• R row: Most English "l" and "r" sounds become this row.
• W row: ン (n) and ソ (so) look alike: ン's long stroke rises from the bottom.
• Dakuten: The same ゛ marks as in hiragana.
• Dakuten and handakuten: English b and p sounds.
• Combos: Small ャ ュ ョ work as in hiragana.
• Combos: The same small ャ ュ ョ, after m, r and the voiced sounds.
• Small: ッ doubles the next consonant; ー makes the vowel before it long (コーヒー koohii).