S
サシスセソ — The S Row
01
Why the S row matters
The S row — サ シ ス セ ソ — is an “s” in front of the five vowels, sounding just like hiragana さ し す せ そ. One wrinkle: シ is read “shi,” not “si.” This is also where katakana's most famous look-alikes appear, so it's the best place to learn them by stroke direction rather than guesswork.
Watch the look-alikes: シ (shi) stacks its marks down the left and sweeps up; ツ (tsu) lines them along the top and sweeps down. ソ (so) starts with a steep mark; ン (n) starts flatter and sweeps up. Stroke direction is the giveaway every time.
02
Pronunciation at a glance
03
Loanwords built on the S row
The S row opens a wide field of everyday loanwords. Here are two for each character.
サラダsaradasalad
サッカーsakkāsoccer
シャツshatsushirt
シーズンshīzunseason
スーパーsūpāsupermarket
スポーツsupōtsusports
セーターsētāsweater
セットsettoset
ソファsofasofa, couch
ソースsōsusauce
04
What's next
Next is the タ-row (タ チ ツ テ ト) — the “t” family, home to ツ, the look-alike you just learned to tell apart from シ. The katakana chart keeps filling in one consonant family at a time.