Katakana chart with romaji and stroke order
Katakana writes the same sounds as hiragana but is mostly used for foreign loanwords, names, and emphasis. It has 46 basic characters. Tap any character to see its romaji, stroke order, and an example word.
Basic Katakana (gojuon)
Katakana with dakuten and handakuten
Katakana combinations (yoon)
A small ya, yu, or yo after an i-column character makes one blended sound.
キャkya
キュkyu
キョkyo
シャsha
シュshu
ショsho
チャcha
チュchu
チョcho
ニャnya
ニュnyu
ニョnyo
ヒャhya
ヒュhyu
ヒョhyo
ミャmya
ミュmyu
ミョmyo
リャrya
リュryu
リョryo
ギャgya
ギュgyu
ギョgyo
ジャja
ジュju
ジョjo
ビャbya
ビュbyu
ビョbyo
ピャpya
ピュpyu
ピョpyo
Common questions
- What is katakana used for?
- Katakana is mainly used for words borrowed from other languages, such as コーヒー (coffee), for foreign names, and for sound effects or emphasis.
- How many katakana are there?
- There are 46 basic katakana, the same sounds as hiragana. Dakuten and handakuten add voiced sounds, and the long vowel mark ー stretches a vowel.
- Which katakana are easy to confuse?
- シ (shi) and ツ (tsu), and ン (n) and ソ (so), look alike. Watch the last stroke: in シ and ン it sweeps up from the bottom left, while in ツ and ソ it falls down from the top right.
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