K
カキクケコ — The K Row
01
Why the K row comes next
With the five vowels learned, the K row is the natural next step: カ キ ク ケ コ are simply a “k” in front of ア イ ウ エ オ. They sound exactly like hiragana か き く け こ — only the angular shapes change. The K row carries a huge share of katakana loanwords, from camera to coffee.
Memory trick: say them in a line — “kah, kee, koo, keh, koh.” It's the vowel ladder you already know, each with a hard “k” bolted to the front.
02
Pronunciation at a glance
03
Loanwords built on the K row
The K row opens a remarkable number of everyday loanwords. Here are two for each character.
カメラkameracamera
カレーkarēcurry
キスkisukiss
キッチンkitchinkitchen
クラスkurasuclass
クッキーkukkīcookie
ケーキkēkicake
ケースkēsucase, container
コーヒーkōhīcoffee
コンビニkonbiniconvenience store
04
What's next
Next comes the サ-row (サ シ ス セ ソ) — the same five vowels with an “s” sound. The katakana chart keeps filling in one consonant family at a time.