Q: How is "Katakana" written in the Katakana script?

カタカナ , each symbol represents a syllable. For example, you can guess カ means "ka" in Japanese easily!

Q: Can a Japanese sentence include all three alphabets?

Yes and most do in fact. Here is a very basic example: 私は (ゾイ) です。 This translates to "My name is Zoe" and includes all 3 of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji

Q: Do the Hiragana and Katakana of the same sound look similar when written?

Some do but most don't. For example the sound "ma" in Japanese is represented as follows: Hiragana for the ma sound | ま Katakana for the ma sound | マ You can see these look quite different.

Q: How many Japanese Alphabets are there in total?

There are 3 in total. These are Hiragana , Katakana and Kanji.

Question 1

How is "Katakana" written in the Katakana script?

Accepted Answer

カタカナ, each symbol represents a syllable.

For example, you can guess カ means "ka" in Japanese easily!

Question 2

How do Hiragana and Katakana differ?

Accepted Answer

Hiragana is more cursive whereas the Katakana letters are more angular in shape.

This makes it really easy to differentiate between which alphabet is being used on paper or on screen.

Here are some Hiragana - おはよう (this means today)

Here are some Katakana - カメラ (this means camera)

See the differences?

Question 3

What are some examples of words in Japanese that use Katakana and are similar to English?

Accepted Answer

There are loads but here's ten to prove it's not all that bad to learn Japanese!

Bar | バー (Baa)

Bus | バス (Basu)

Club | クラブ (Kurabu)

Elevator | エレベーター (Erebeetaa)

Escalator | エスカレーター (Esukareetaa)

Event | イベント (Ebento)

Guide | ガイド (Guaido)

Hotel | ホテル (Hoteru)

Restaurant | レストラン (Resutoran)

Toilet | トイレ (Toire)

Question 4

Can a Japanese sentence include all three alphabets?

Accepted Answer

Yes and most do in fact. Here is a very basic example:

私は(ゾイ)です。

This translates to "My name is Zoe" and includes all 3 of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji

Question 5

Do the Hiragana and Katakana of the same sound look similar when written?

Accepted Answer

Some do but most don't.

For example the sound "ma" in Japanese is represented as follows:

Hiragana for the ma sound | ま

Katakana for the ma sound | マ

You can see these look quite different.

Question 6

How many Japanese Alphabets are there in total?

Accepted Answer

There are 3 in total.

These are Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

Question 7

What is England in Japanese Katakana?

Accepted Answer

イギリス which is pronounced "i gi ri su".

Katakana Alphabet