Ka Ki Ku

Katakana 1

Chapter 3 · Ka Ki Ku

🌿 The K Row and the Long-Vowel Mark — カ キ ク ー

Your first consonant row: カ キ ク (ka, ki, ku). You'll also learn a mark that isn't a character but that katakana can't live without: the long-vowel mark ー. With it you'll read five real words today. Romaji is shown for everything.

✨ Your Three New Characters — カ キ ク

〰️ The Long-Vowel Mark — ー

In hiragana a long vowel is written by adding a vowel character (おかあさん). In katakana, long vowels are written with a single line, ー. It means: hold the previous vowel for one more beat.

• キー = ki + ー = "ki-i", two beats, written kī in romaji.
• カー = ka + ー = "ka-a", two beats, written kā.
• In horizontal text ー is a horizontal line; in vertical text it turns into a vertical line.
• It is not a character of its own, it has no sound by itself, and it never starts a word. It always follows a katakana and stretches it.
• Length matters: キ (one beat) and キー (two beats) are different words, just like the long and short sounds you may know from Japanese already.

📖 Read It — Real Words at Last

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.