mi / ミ
The second M-row katakana — “mi,” three tilted strokes that come straight from the kanji 三 (three).
Pronunciation
The character ミ represents the syllable 'mi', identical in pronunciation to hiragana み. Common in loanwords for milk, mixer, mini, meat, meeting, mirror, and many compounds.
ミ matches hiragana み — a bright “mi.” Its three short strokes are the kanji 三 (three) turned on its side, which makes it easy to remember. It opens loanwords like ミルク (milk), ミニ (mini), ミーティング (meeting), ミラー (mirror).
How to write ミ
Trace ミ 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 up top, angling down to the right.
A second short stroke below it, parallel to the first.
A third short stroke at the bottom, a touch longer — three marks like the kanji 三 (three), gently tilted.
Origin
Katakana ミ comes from the kanji 三 (mi / san, “three”). Its three stacked strokes are 三 itself, lightly tilted — and notably, hiragana み derives from a different kanji (美), so this resemblance is unique to katakana.
Common words starting with ミ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ミ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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