u / ウ
The middle katakana vowel — a relaxed “oo” in three strokes, crowned by a small top tick. The same sound as hiragana う.
Pronunciation
The character ウ represents the vowel 'u', identical in pronunciation to hiragana う — close to 'oo' in 'food' but with relaxed lips. Common in loanwords, particularly those starting with a 'w' or 'u' sound. The small ゥ form is used in extended katakana like ウィ (wi) and ウェ (we).
ウ matches hiragana う — an unrounded “u” that English speakers tend to over-pucker. It anchors “w”-sound loanwords through extended katakana like ウィ (wi) and ウェ (we): ウェブ (web), ウイスキー (whisky), ウール (wool).
How to write ウ
Trace ウ 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 vertical tick at the very top centre — the little peak that caps ウ.
A short stroke down the upper left, starting the left side.
From that top-left corner, run across the top to the right, then curve down the right side and inward, finishing near the bottom centre.
Origin
Katakana ウ is a fragment of the kanji 宇 (u) — “house” or “universe.” Katakana kept only the top — the 宀 roof radical — which is exactly why ウ wears that small peak and roof-like shoulders. Hiragana う traces to the same kanji, but rounded the whole thing instead.
Common words starting with ウ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ウ 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.