ma / マ
The first of the M row — “ma” in two strokes. Same sound as hiragana ま, opening microphone, mask, and manga.
Pronunciation
The character マ represents the syllable 'ma', identical in pronunciation to hiragana ま. Common in loanwords for microphone, mask, manga, marathon, machine, and many proper nouns.
マ is the katakana twin of hiragana ま — the same “ma.” It opens loanwords like マイク (microphone), マスク (mask), マンガ (manga), マラソン (marathon). Its shape is a fragment of the kanji 末.
How to write マ
Trace マ 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 stroke across the top from the left, then turning and angling down toward the centre — a flattened corner.
A short diagonal from the middle, slanting down to the lower right — the leg of マ.
Origin
Katakana マ is drawn from the first strokes of the kanji 末 (matsu / ma, “end” or “tip”). Some references also trace it to 万 (“ten thousand”); either way, only the opening fragment became マ.
Common words starting with マ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing マ 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.