de / デ
The fourth D-row katakana — テ with a dakuten becomes “de.” Opens department store, data, and date.
Pronunciation
The character デ represents the syllable 'de'. It is テ with the dakuten that voices 't' to 'd'. Extremely common in loanwords — department store, design, data, dessert, video, and many more. The combination ディ (de + small i) creates the 'di' sound used in foreign words.
デ is テ (te) plus the dakuten ゛. It opens a wide field of loanwords: デパート (department store), データ (data), デザイン (design), デート (date). Same テ shape, voiced to “de.”
How to write デ
Trace デ 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 テ exactly: a horizontal bar, a longer horizontal below it, then a stroke descending from the centre to the lower left.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small ticks at the upper right — strokes 4 and 5 — sitting above the body.
Origin
Katakana デ shares its shape with テ, taken from the kanji 天 (te, “heaven”). The dakuten ゛ voices “te” into “de.”
Common words starting with デ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing デ 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.