ta / タ
The first of the T row — a sharp “ta” in three strokes. Same sound as hiragana た, opening taxi, towel, and data.
Pronunciation
The character タ represents the syllable 'ta', identical in pronunciation to hiragana た. Extremely common in loanwords — appears in taxi, towel, butter, star, data, and countless others.
タ is the katakana twin of hiragana た — the same “ta.” It opens loanwords like タクシー (taxi), タオル (towel), タイヤ (tire), and ends many more such as データ (data). It looks like ク with one extra inner stroke.
How to write タ
Trace タ 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 diagonal from the top, slanting down to the left — the same opening as ク.
A longer stroke from the upper middle: sweep right, then curve down to the lower left.
A short diagonal inside, from the centre down to the right — the inner mark that turns ク into タ.
Origin
Katakana タ was taken from the kanji 多 (ta, “many”). 多 is two 夕 stacked; katakana kept just the upper 夕, which is the shape タ carries today.
Common words starting with タ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing タ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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