ba / バ
The first of the B row — ハ with a dakuten (゛) becomes “ba.” Opens banana, bus, and bag.
Pronunciation
The character バ represents the syllable 'ba'. It is ハ with the dakuten that voices 'h' to 'b'. Extremely common in loanwords — banana, bus, bag, bar, bike, vanilla, and countless others.
バ is ハ (ha) plus the dakuten ゛ — two ticks that voice “h” into “b.” It opens loanwords like バナナ (banana), バス (bus), バッグ (bag), バイク (motorcycle), and ends ハンバーガー (hamburger).
How to write バ
Trace バ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
Write ハ exactly: two diagonals parting from the upper centre — one down to the lower left, one down to the lower right.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small ticks at the upper right — strokes 3 and 4 — sitting above the body as a separate mark.
Origin
Katakana バ shares its shape with ハ, taken from the kanji 八 (“eight”). The dakuten ゛ is a later mark that voices “ha” into “ba.”
Common words starting with バ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing バ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the katakana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.