hi / ヒ
The second H-row katakana — “hi” in two strokes with an L-like base. Same sound as hiragana ひ, opening heater, hero, and hint.
Pronunciation
The character ヒ represents the syllable 'hi', identical in pronunciation to hiragana ひ. Common in loanwords for heater, hero, hint, hit, and many proper nouns.
ヒ matches hiragana ひ — a bright “hi.” It opens loanwords like ヒーター (heater), ヒーロー (hero), ヒント (hint), and recurs in コーヒー (coffee). Its shape is taken from the right side of the kanji 比.
How to write ヒ
Trace ヒ 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.
A short stroke rising gently from the lower left to the upper right.
A long stroke starting at the top left, dropping down, then turning to sweep along the bottom to the right — an L-like base.
Origin
Katakana ヒ comes from the right half of the kanji 比 (hi, “to compare”). That single element became ヒ; the matching left half was dropped.
Common words starting with ヒ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ヒ 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.