Katakana · y row

ヤ (ya): katakana stroke order and pronunciation

ヤ is the katakana for ya, the a sound of the y row. It is written with 2 strokes. Its hiragana twin is や (ya).

ヤ
12
Romaji
ya
Strokes
2
Listen
Play ya

How to write ヤ, stroke by stroke

Each frame adds one stroke. The number sits where the stroke starts; strokes run left to right and top to bottom.

  1. 1stroke 1
  2. 12stroke 2

How to say ya

Tip: like 'ya' in 'yard'

や minus one stroke — twins.

ヤ in a word

The course introduces ヤ with タイヤ (tire).

The y row

The y row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so ヤ differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:

  • ヤ yaタイヤ (tire)
  • ユ yuユーモア (humor)
  • ヨ yoヨーグルト (yogurt)

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 ヤ with tracing practice, a listening drill and spaced review, then uses it in real words within the same lesson.

Practice this in Open Lingo

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