Katakana カタカナ
Guidelines on how to create katakana words accurately
When is Katakana used?
Katakana represents Oborrowed words from foreign languages (mostly English but also Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and some Chinese)Oonomatopoeic words eg. meiow, twinkle, knock knock,
トントン
Why is ‘Japanese English’ so different?
Japanese has a much simpler sound system than English. Borrowed words need to be adjusted to suit the Japanese sound system. The result is ‘Japanese English’. Many words sound completely different to the original borrowed English word.
Example: table = テーブル ( teeburu)
ConsonantsIn English words can have up to 3 consonants in a row. ie. stream. But, in Japanese all consonants are followed by a vowel (except for ‘n’). Change English words into Katakana by adding a vowel after consonants:
OConsonants ‘t’ or ‘d’ add ‘o’ = to, doOConsonant ‘k’ add ‘u’ or ‘i’ = ki, kuOAll other single consonants add ‘u’.= ru, su, bu,mu etc.
Example:class = クラス (kurasu)
Practice - Consonants
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OclubOhomeOcakeOsteak
Can you read these:ジムガス
ANSWER - Consonants
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oclub クラブ (kurabu)Ohome ホーム (hoomu)Ocake ケーキ (keeki)Osteak ステーキ (suteeki)
Can you read these:
ジム jimu (gym)ガス gasu (gass)
Long vowel sounds
Some English vowels sound longer. ie. live vs leaveLong vowel sounds are changed into Katakana by adding the symbol “ ー” .
Example:cheese = チーズ (chiizu)
Practice – Long vowel sounds
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OsneakerOskiOicecreamOtenisOpiano
Can you read these:ゲーム
コーヒー
ANSWERS – Long vowel sounds
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Osneaker スニーカー (suniikaa)Oski スキー (sukii)Oicecream アイスクリーム (aisukuriimu)Otenis テニス (tenisu)Opiano ピアノ (piano)
Can you read these:ゲーム geemu
(game)コーヒー koohii
(coffee)
Vowel + R
A vowel followed by ‘r’ is written as a long vowel sound in Katakana. The vowel before the ‘r’ is lengthened by adding the symbol “ ー” .
Example:girlfriend = ガールフレンド (gaarufurendo)
Practice – Vowel + R
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OcourseOcircusOgirl
Can you read this:
アパート
ANSWERS – Vowel + R
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Ocourse コース (koosu)Ocircus サーカス (saakisu)Ogirl ガール (gaaru)
Can you read this:
アパート apaato (apartment)
Hard consonant sounds
When an English syllable ends with a hard sounding consonant (p, b, t, d, k, g, s, sh) these are changed into Katakana by adding a small ‘ ッ (tsu) before the hard consonant.
Example:truck = トラック (torakku)
(Remember the small tsu creates a
pause before the next sound.)
Practice – Hard consonant sounds
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OeggObedOhigh techObagObread
Can you read these:
グッドラックロボット
ANSWERS – Hard consonant sounds
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oegg エッグ (eggu)Obed ベッド (beddo)Ohigh tech ハイテック (haitekku)Obag バッグ (baggu)Obread ブレッド (bureddo)
Can you read these:グッドラック guddorakku
(good luck)ロボット robotto (robot)
J in Katakana
The ‘j’ sound, when it doesn’t have a vowel sound after it, changes to ‘ シ ji’.
Example:orange = オレンジ (orenji)
Practice – J in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OchallengeOGeorge
Can you read this:
オレンジジュース
ANSWERS – J in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Ochallenge チャレンジ (charenji)OGeorge ジヨージ (jooji)
Can you read this:オレンジジュース
orenjijuusu (orange juice)
F in Katakana
F by itself or followed by a ‘u’ sound is represented by ‘フ fu’. F followed by other vowels are written with ‘ フ fu’ and small ァ a ィ i ェ e ォ o
ie. fa ファ fi フィ fe フェ fo フォ
Example:family = ファミリー (famirii)
Practice – F in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OFranceOfootballOdolphinOferry
Can you read these:
フィルムカリフォルニア
ANSWERS – F in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OFrance フランス (furansu)Ofootball フットボール (futtobooru)Odolphin ドルフィン (dorufin)Oferry フェリー (ferii)
Can you read these:フィルム firumu (film)
カリフォルニア kariforunia (California)
W in KatakanaThe ‘w’ sound in Japanese can occur with ‘a’ and written in katakana as ‘ワ wa’. For all other vowels after the ‘w’ sound changes the ‘w’ to ‘ ウ u’ followed by and small ィ i ェ e ォ o
ie. wi ウィ we ウェ wo ウォ
Example:water = ウォーター (uootaa)
Practice – W in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OweekOwestOsquareOwhisky
Can you read these:
ウエーターホワイト
ANSWERS – W in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oweek ウィーク (uiiku)Owest ウェスト (uesuto)Osquare スクウェア (sukuuea)Owhisky ウィスキー (uisukii)
Can you read these:ウエーター ueetaa
(waiter)ホワイト howaito
(white)
L and R in Katakana
L and R are written as ‘r’ in Katakana.
Example:milk = ミルク (miruku)
Practice – L and R in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OcolaOballpenOstereoOtrumpet
Can you read these:ベルトルール
ANSWERS – L and R in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Ocola コーラ (cora)Oballpen ボールペン (boorupen)Ostereo ステレオ (sutereo)Otrumpet トランペット (toranpetto)
Can you read these:
ベルト beruto (belt)
ルール ruuru (rules)
Ti, Di, Tu in Katakana
The ‘ti’ sound changes to ‘ ティ’ (typed texi)
(or traditionally ‘チ chi’) The ‘di’ sound changes to ‘ ディ’ (typed dexi)
(or traditionally ‘ジ ji’)The ‘tu’ sound changes to ‘ ツ tsu’ or ‘ チュ chu’
Example:party = パーティー (paatii)radio = ラジオ (rajio)
Practice – Ti, Di and Tu in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OticketOmusicOcandyOteaOtulip
Can you read these:
ティシュティアラ
ANSWERS – Ti, Di and Tu in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oticket チケット (chiketto)Omusic ミュージック (myuujikku)Ocandy キャンディー (kyandii)Otea ティー (tii)Otulip チューリップ (chuurippu) Can you read
these:ティシュ tishu
(tissue)ティアラ tiara
(tiara)
Th in Katakana
The ‘th’ sound usually changes to ‘s’ (soft ‘th’) or ‘z’ (hard ‘th’) sound (sometimes it changes to just a ‘t’ sound)
Example:theater = シアター (shiataa)
Practice – Th in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OmotherOthank youOaromatherapyOleather
Can you read these:
ザ・ビートルズウェサー
ANSWERS – Th in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Omother マザー (mazaa)Othank you サンキュー (sankyuu)Oaromatherapy アロマテラピー (aromaterapii)Oleather レザー (rezaa)
Can you read these:ザ・ビートルズ za biitoruzu (the
beatles)ウェザー uezaa (weather)
V in Katakana
The ‘v’ sound usually changes to ‘b’. (recently katakana ‘u’ with a tenten ‘ ヴ vu’ is used)
Example:valentine’s day = バレンタインデー (barentaindee)
Practice – V in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OivyOvegetableOviolin
Can you read these:
ベジャテリアンビデオゲーム
ANSWERS – V in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oivy アイビー (aibii)Ovegetable ベジタブル (bejitaburu)Oviolin バイオリン (baiorin)
Can you read these:ベジャテリアン bejiterian
(vegetarian)ビデオゲーム bideogeemu (video
game)
Ye in Katakana
The ‘y’ sound in Japanese only occurs with ‘a, u, o’. There is no ‘ye’ sound so this is changed into katakana by writing it as ‘ イエ ie’.
Example:yellow = イェロー (ieroo)
Practice – Ye in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
OyesOYaleOyear
Can you read this:イエティー
ANSWERS – Ye in Katakana
How would you say/write these words in katakana?
Oyes イエス (iesu)OYale イエル (ieru)Oyear イヤー (iyaa)
Can you read these:イエティー ietii (Yeti- abominable snow
man)