ka / カ
The first of the K row — a hard “ka” in two strokes that opens a huge run of loanwords, from camera to curry.
Pronunciation
The character カ represents the syllable 'ka', identical in pronunciation to hiragana か. Extremely common in loanwords — many of the most everyday katakana words begin with カ (camera, card, curry, karaoke, café).
カ is the katakana twin of hiragana か — the very same hard “ka.” As the lead consonant katakana, it turns up across everyday loanwords: カメラ (camera), カレー (curry), カラオケ (karaoke), カフェ (café).
How to write カ
Trace カ 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.
Begin at the upper left and sweep right, then curve down toward the lower centre — the top bar and right shoulder in one motion.
A diagonal cutting from the top down to the lower left, crossing the first. カ echoes the kanji 力 it was carved from.
Origin
Katakana カ was taken from the left side of the kanji 加 (ka, “to add” or “increase”) — its 力 “power” radical. The right half 口 was dropped, leaving just the angular force element, true to katakana's habit of keeping a single fragment.
Common words starting with カ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing カ 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.