Katakana · n row
ン (n): katakana stroke order and pronunciation
ン is the katakana for n, on its own at the end of the chart. It is written with 2 strokes. Its hiragana twin is ん (n).
- Romaji
- n
- Strokes
- 2
- Listen
- Play n
How to write ン, stroke by stroke
Each frame adds one stroke. The number sits where the stroke starts; strokes run left to right and top to bottom.
- stroke 1
- stroke 2
How to say n
Tip: hum through your nose
ソ's twin, mirrored: ソ's flick sweeps DOWN from the top; ン's sweeps UP from the bottom. Last twin pair — you've beaten them all.
ン in a word
The course introduces ン with ラーメン (ramen).
Course words written with ン
2 words from the beginner word lists use ン. Each links to the list it belongs to.
- パンpanbreadFood and drink vocabulary
- ラーメンraamenRamenFood and drink vocabulary
ン in a sentence
From the beginner stories, where ン turns up in running text rather than on its own.
ゆうべ、ぼくは ケンと ビールを のんだ。
Last night I drank beer with Ken. from The day off
ラーメンは ごひゃくえんです。おいしいです。
The ramen is five hundred yen. It's good. from The expensive pen
Built from ン
The same sound in hiragana
Stroke-order data from KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.
Practice this in Open Lingo
The Open Lingo Japanese course teaches ン with tracing practice, a listening drill and spaced review, then uses it in real words within the same lesson.
Keep going
- ChartHiragana chartAll 46 basic hiragana plus dakuten and yōon combinations, each with romaji, stroke-order diagram, a pronunciation tip and audio.
- Word listGreetings and polite phrasesEssential Japanese greetings and polite phrases for beginners, with hiragana, romaji, meaning and audio, taken from the Open Lingo course.
- Word listNumbersJapanese numbers for beginners: Sino-Japanese いち, に, さん, the native ひとつ, ふたつ counting set, and hundreds, thousands and 万, with audio.
- ToolNumbers 1 to 100 and converterJapanese numbers 0 to 100 in kana, kanji and romaji, a converter up to 999,999, and the rules for 4, 7, 9, sound-changing hundreds and 万.