A Step By Step Guide to Learning Katakana

If you thought Hiragana was easy, and have practiced all the letters, you’ll remember Katakana in no time! To make it easier, many of the Katakana syllables look quite similar to Hiragana syllables too.

Katakana syllables are characterized by short, straight strokes and sharp corners.

These Katakana syllables are used to write words borrowed from other languages.

For emphasis, to represent onomatopoeia, for technical and scientific terms, and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.

These foreign words sometimes undergo their own transitions within the Japanese language, pushed, pulled, and abbreviated until they are no longer recognisable.

Each syllable in hiragana has a one-to-one relationship with katakana, and vice versa. Hiragana and katakana are simply two different ways of writing the same syllable. Hence for 46 Hiragana syllables, there are 46 Katakana syllables. 

Before starting Katakana syllables, let us introduce you to chōonpu first. 

What is chōonpu?

Chōonpu is a horizontal or vertical line in the centre of the text with the width of one kanji or character. It is written horizontally in horizontal text and vertically in vertical text.

The chōonpu is usually used to indicate a long vowel sound in katakana writing, and rarely in hiragana writing.

For example:

Now, let’s see the Katakana syllables.

Learning Katakana – The ‘A’ Series

Now, let’s practice some words containing these syllables.

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ka’ Series

Let’s learn some words:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Sa’ Series

Let’s learn some words:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ta’ Series

Here are some practice words:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Na’ Series

Some words for practicing the Na series are:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ha’ Series

Here are some words:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ma’ Series

Words to practice are:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ya’ Series

Here are some words from the ‘Ya’ series:

Learning Katakana – The ‘Ra’ Series

Words for practice are:

The Last Three Syllables

ワイン

wainn

Wine

Extended Katakana

Combinations of small versions of the five vowels i.e., ア、イ、ウ、エ and オ are known as extended katakana.

These standard katakana symbols are used to create more accurate representations of the pronunciations of words in other languages. 

For example:

Additional Syllables

Use of Dakuten

Use of Handakuten

Handakuten converts the ハ (ha) series into パ = the Pa series.

Use of Small Alphabet – Sokuon (促音)

The sokuon (促音) is a symbol in the form of a small hiragana or katakana tsu.

In less formal language it is called chiisai tsu (小さいつ ) or chiisana tsu (小さなつ), meaning “small tsu“. It can never appear at the beginning of the word.

ッ is used to stress the word by doubling the consonant.

For example:

Other Syllables – Youon (拗音)

Just like Hiragana, the youon (拗音), is a combination of a katakana ending in i, such as シ (shi), with a smaller version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo.

ヤ、ユ and ヨ are often used in combination with the basic syllables キ、シ、チ、ニー、ヒ、ミ、 and リ.

For example:

Are you a Flexi Classes student already?

Learn more about Katakana in the following Flexi lesson:

Katakana (Intro)

Not a Flexi Student yet?

START YOUR 7 DAY FREE TRIAL

And that’s Katakana for you!

You now know another one of the 3 alphabets of the Japanese language.

If you haven’t learned about Hiragana yet, now would be a great time to do it.

And if you are confident to go a step further, here’s an introduction to Kanji.

This Japanese Grammar Bank will be updated very regularly, so make sure to come back for more lessons like this one.

Why not also come along and check out our online Japanese classes?

We teach lessons 24/7 on our online platform Flexi Classes, and all of our teachers are passionate native teachers.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS