ne / ネ
The fourth N-row katakana — “ne” in four strokes, the most of the row. Same sound as hiragana ね, opening net, necktie, and money.
Pronunciation
The character ネ represents the syllable 'ne', identical in pronunciation to hiragana ね. Common in loanwords for net/internet, necktie, money, manager, and many compounds.
ネ carries the same “ne” as hiragana ね. With four strokes it's the busiest kana in the row. It opens loanwords like ネット (net, internet), ネクタイ (necktie), ネオン (neon), and recurs in マネー (money). Its shape is the 礻 “altar” radical from its parent kanji 祢.
How to write ネ
Trace ネ 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 at the top centre — a small tick.
A stroke just below it: a short move to the right, then a sweep down to the lower left.
A vertical stroke descending through the centre of the lower half.
A short diagonal flicking out to the lower right, balancing the character.
Origin
Katakana ネ comes from the kanji 祢 (ne). Its left-hand 礻 radical — the “altar / spirit” element — is exactly the shape ネ keeps today.
Common words starting with ネ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ネ 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.