mo / モ
The last of the M row — “mo” in three strokes, drawn from the kanji 毛 (hair). Opens model, motor, and mobile.
Pronunciation
The character モ represents the syllable 'mo', identical in pronunciation to hiragana も. Common in loanwords for model, motor, memo, mobile, monitor, monster, modern, lemon, and many compounds.
モ matches hiragana も — a steady “mo.” It opens loanwords like モデル (model), モーター (motor), モバイル (mobile), モニター (monitor). Its two bars and descending stroke come from the kanji 毛.
How to write モ
Trace モ 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 horizontal stroke up top, left to right.
A longer horizontal stroke below it, left to right.
A long stroke descending from the top through both bars, curving to the right at the foot — the backbone of モ, from the kanji 毛.
Origin
Katakana モ comes from the kanji 毛 (mo / ke, “hair” or “fur”). Its two bars and hooked descender are lifted from 毛 — and like ミ, モ's katakana source differs from its hiragana one.
Common words starting with モ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing モ 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.