Learn · ひらがな・カタカナ
Hiragana vs katakana
Hiragana and katakana are two ways of writing the same 46 sounds. Hiragana is rounded and writes Japanese grammar and native words. Katakana is angular and writes words borrowed from other languages, foreign names and emphasis.
Kanji, the third script, works differently: each character carries a meaning, not just a sound. Everyday Japanese mixes all three, often in the same sentence.
At a glance
| Hiragana ひらがな | Katakana カタカナ | Kanji 漢字 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looks | Rounded, flowing | Straight, angular | Complex, many strokes |
| Characters | 46 basic | 46 basic | 2,136 in everyday use |
| Writes | Grammar and native words | Loanwords and foreign names | Meaning: nouns and word stems |
| Example | ねこ, neko, cat | コーヒー, kōhī, coffee | 日本, Nihon, Japan |
| Learn | First | Second | Alongside vocabulary |
All three in one sentence
私はコーヒーを飲みます。
- Kanji
- Hiragana
- Katakana
The kanji 私 (I) and 飲 (drink) carry the meaning. The loanword コーヒー is in katakana. Hiragana does the grammar: the particles は and を, and the verb ending みます.
When Japanese uses each one
Hiragana
- Particles like は, を and に
- Verb and adjective endings: 食べる
- Words without common kanji: ありがとう
- Furigana, the readings printed over kanji
- Children's books and beginners' textbooks
Katakana
- Loanwords: テレビ (terebi, TV)
- Foreign names and places: アメリカ
- Sound effects: ドキドキ (a pounding heart)
- Emphasis, a bit like italics
- Names of animals and plants in science writing
Kanji
- Most nouns: 山 (yama, mountain)
- The stems of verbs and adjectives: 食べる
- Japanese names of people and places
- Telling apart words that sound the same
Same sounds, two shapes
Every hiragana has a katakana partner with the same sound, in the same place on the chart. Each cell shows the hiragana, then the katakana. Press the play button on a row to quiz yourself on both.
See each one on its own in the hiragana chart and the katakana chart, with dakuten and combinations.
Where they come from
Both scripts grew out of kanji used for their sound, over a thousand years ago. Hiragana came from whole kanji written in fast, cursive brushstrokes, which is why it's round. Katakana came from small pieces of kanji, which Buddhist monks used to note pronunciation in Chinese texts, which is why it's angular.
Some pairs still look alike because both come from the same kanji:
加か カ
ka
幾き キ
ki
世せ セ
se
部へ ヘ
he
毛も モ
mo
也や ヤ
ya
利り リ
ri
Which to learn first
Start with hiragana. It's in every sentence, and textbooks use it from the first page. Most people can read all 46 within a week or two of daily practice.
Learn katakana next. You already know the sounds, so it's quicker the second time. Then learn kanji gradually, a few at a time, with the words that use them.
Once you know both, quiz them mixed together. Switching between scripts is what real text makes you do, and it's where look-alikes like へ and ヘ or り and リ trip you up.
Questions
- Is katakana harder than hiragana?
- Not really. It has the same sounds and simpler strokes. It feels harder because you see it less often, and a few katakana look alike, like シ and ツ or ソ and ン.
- Can you write everything in hiragana?
- You can, and young children do. Adults find it slow to read, though: Japanese has no spaces, and kanji show where words start and what they mean.
- Do Japanese people use romaji?
- Not to read and write Japanese. Romaji shows up on signs, passports and in brand names, and on computers most people type Japanese in romaji, which the keyboard turns into kana.
- How many characters do I need to read Japanese?
- The 46 hiragana and 46 katakana, plus the 2,136 jōyō kanji the Japanese government lists for everyday use. You can start reading real sentences with the kana and a few hundred kanji.