ka ki ku ke ko

A person is doing a karate kick. They're bent at the waist and their arm is almost touching the floor on the left, but their kicking leg is missing. Remember "ka" from "karate".

This looks like a key that you can use to unlock a door. Spelled "ki", it makes the same sound as the word "key".

Imagine that this character is a large scoop. It's spelled "ku" and sounds like the "coo" in "scoop".

This character resembles a cane. Spelled "ke", it makes the same sound as the "ca" in cane

Imagine a can of cola fallen on its side. This character only shows half of the can, but makes the same "co" sound.

more katakana practice