The katakana (片仮名、カタカナ) tables are given here as reference, we will be delving deeper into this writing form in lesson 7.

Hiragana and katakana together are known as kana (仮名 / かな).

Katakana

Dakuten / handakuten
Like hiragana, katakana have variations and combinations. Make yourself acquainted with the standard katakana before tackling these variations.

The kana variations work according to a system. The consonants are changed to voiced consonnants, called nigori (濁り) or dakuon (濁音), through adding a dakuten (濁点): ゛or a handakuten (半濁点): ゜.

Katakana - combinations
The katakana combinations also work according to a system. Kana from the "i" column can be combined with kana from the "y" row. The "y" kana are then written in smaller print to show the relation to the "i" kana. This may sound very difficult, but when you look at the tables below, you will quickly understand how this works.

Small "tsu"

The "chouonfugou"
In katakana a line is used to transcribe long vowels. This line, called a "chouonfugou" is drawn in the direction of the line. So when the text is written left to right, the chouonfugou is drawn from left to right, if the text is written top to bottom, the chouonfugou is drawn top to bottom.