nyu / ニュ
The middle NY combined kana — ニ plus a small ュ becomes “nyu.” The common one: it opens news, New York, and nuance.
Pronunciation
The compound character ニュ represents the syllable 'nyu', formed by combining ニ (ni) with a small ュ. Common in loanwords — news, menu, New York, New Zealand, nuance, neutral.
ニュ is ニ (ni) plus a small ュ, read as one syllable, “nyu” — and it's the workhorse of the set, standing in for English “new” and “nu”: ニュース (news), ニューヨーク (New York), ニュアンス (nuance), and inside メニュー (menu).
How to write ニュ
Trace ニュ 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.
Write ニ exactly: a short horizontal stroke up top, then a longer horizontal below it.
Write a small ュ tucked into the lower right at about half height — a miniature ユ (a top-and-right turn, then a base bar).
Origin
Katakana ニュ combines ニ — from the kanji 仁 (ni) — with a small ュ (reduced ユ, from 由). Together they spell a single “nyu” sound.
Common words starting with ニュ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ニュ 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.