Katakana · t row
ツ (tsu): katakana stroke order and pronunciation
ツ is the katakana for tsu, the u sound of the t row. It is written with 3 strokes. Its hiragana twin is つ (tsu).
- Romaji
- tsu
- Strokes
- 3
- Listen
- Play tsu
How to write ツ, 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
- stroke 3
How to say tsu
Tip: like 'ts' in 'cats' + u
シ's twin, at last. シ's strokes lie DOWN and flick up; ツ's hang from the TOP and sweep down. Shi smiles sideways, tsu frowns from above.
ツ in a word
The course introduces ツ with シャツ (shirt).
The t row
The t row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so ツ differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:
Built from ツ
With dakuten
- ヅzu
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 ツ with tracing practice, a listening drill and spaced review, then uses it in real words within the same lesson.
Keep going
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