Katakana lookalikes, and how to tell them apart
The katakana pairs that blur together at a glance, with the one visible detail that separates each: シ and ツ, ソ and ン, ク and ケ, ウ and ワ, コ and ユ.
Plenty of people who stall on katakana don't stall on all 104 characters. They stall on a handful of them. Two strokes tilted the wrong way and a word like ツアー (tsuaa, a tour) turns into noise.
Here's the good news. Every pair below differs in one thing you can see, and once you've named that thing you stop guessing. Keep the katakana chart open in another tab while you read.
シ and ツ
This is the famous one. Both have two short strokes and one long stroke, and the whole difference is direction.
- シ (shi) has its two dots on the left, stacked like a sideways smile. The long stroke starts low and sweeps up and to the right.
- ツ (tsu) has its two dots along the top. The long stroke starts at the top right and comes down.
So ask two questions. Where are the dots, left or top? Does the long stroke rise or fall? If you only check one, check the dots.
ソ and ン
The same trap, one stroke lighter. Each has a short stroke and a long stroke.
- ソ (so) has a short stroke at the top left and a long stroke that comes down from the top right. Everything falls.
- ン (n) has a short stroke at the left and a long stroke that sweeps up from the bottom. The end of it flicks upward.
Think of ソ as falling and ン as rising. In a word like コンビニ (konbini, a convenience store), the ン is the one that sweeps up before ビ.
ク, ケ and タ
These three share a slanted stroke on the left, which is why they get swapped.
- ク (ku) is two strokes. A short slanted one, then a longer stroke that bends and hooks.
- ケ (ke) has a horizontal bar through the middle that ク doesn't have.
- タ (ta) looks like ク with an extra short slash inside the hook.
Count the strokes. ク has two, and both ケ and タ have three. Then look for the bar (ケ) or the slash inside (タ).
ウ, ワ and フ
Another set that comes down to a tiny mark.
- ウ (u) has a short tick on top, sitting above a roof shape.
- ワ (wa) is the same roof shape with no tick on top.
- フ (fu) is a single bent stroke with no roof at all.
The tick is the whole story. If there's a tick, it's ウ, and if there isn't a tick but there is a box-like roof, it's ワ. The hiragana う has a similar rounded top, so it helps to see how it relates in the hiragana chart.
コ and ユ
Both are boxes with a missing side.
- コ (ko) is two strokes, a top bar that turns down and a bottom bar that stops flush with it.
- ユ (yu) has a bottom bar that runs on past the vertical stroke, sticking out to the right.
The bottom line is the tell. Flush means コ. Sticking out means ユ. There's a close cousin too, ヨ (yo), which is the same box with a bar in the middle, like an E facing the wrong way.
テ and チ
- テ (te) has two horizontal bars with a stroke curving down from the lower one.
- チ (chi) has a short slash on top of a single bar, then a long stroke curving down.
Look at the top. Two flat bars is テ. A slash above one bar is チ.
Quick reference
| Pair | Say it | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| シ / ツ | shi / tsu | dots on the left and a rising stroke, or dots on top and a falling stroke |
| ソ / ン | so / n | a falling long stroke, or one that sweeps up |
| ク / ケ | ku / ke | no bar, or a horizontal bar through it |
| ウ / ワ | u / wa | a tick on top, or none |
| コ / ユ | ko / yu | the bottom bar flush, or sticking out |
| テ / チ | te / chi | two flat bars, or a slash over one bar |
How to practise them
Reading about the difference gets you maybe halfway. The rest is repetition against the clock, because your eye has to learn to look at the right spot before you consciously think about it.
A few things that help:
- Drill the pairs against each other rather than one at a time. Seeing シ and ツ in the same session is what builds the habit of checking the dots.
- Say the sound out loud as you answer.
- Write each one by hand a few times. Your hand remembers the direction of the stroke even when your eye doesn't.
- Come back the next day. Spaced review beats one long cram.
Kana no Michi has a mode built for this. Lookalike duels put the confusing pairs head to head. It's one of the six modes in the one-time Study Unlock (US$4.99), which also adds katakana. Hiragana is free forever, and there's no subscription.
Which katakana look the most alike? シ and ツ cause the most trouble, followed closely by ソ and ン. Both pairs differ only in the direction of one or two strokes.
Do I need to learn katakana before hiragana? No. Most learners do hiragana first because it's used in every sentence, then add katakana for loanwords and names. The hiragana chart is the place to start.
Why does katakana look so angular? The characters were taken from parts of kanji and written with straight, quick strokes. Hiragana grew from flowing cursive forms, so it looks rounder.
Does stroke direction really matter when I'm only reading? Yes, because direction is what changes the shape of the character. Learning it by hand makes the reading side much easier.
How long does it take to stop mixing these up? It varies by person. A few short sessions spread over several days is a sensible aim, and the pairs usually stop feeling like coin flips after that.