Re Ro

Katakana 1

Chapter 17 · Re Ro

🌿 Finishing the R Row — レ ロ

Two characters complete the R row: レ (re) and ロ (ro). Both are simple shapes, and between them you can read トイレ (toilet), possibly the most useful katakana word in Japan. Romaji is shown for everything.

✨ Your Two New Characters — レ ロ

レ
re
the same tap, then "eh"
1 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a check mark: a re-check. One stroke, a straight stem that kicks out at the bottom. Hiragana twin: れ.
ロ
ro
the same tap, then "oh"
3 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a room: a square box with four walls. It comes from the kanji 口 (kuchi, "mouth"). Hiragana twin: ろ.
KatakanaHiragana twinRomaji
re
ro

🔤 The Complete R Row

rarirurero

Top row katakana, bottom row hiragana: say each pair aloud.

Look-Alikes: レ and ル, ロ and 口 レ (re) has one stroke, and ル (ru), from the last chapter, has two: count them. And ロ (ro) is almost identical to the kanji 口 (kuchi, "mouth"), which is where it comes from. In a katakana word it's always ro.

📖 Read It — Real Words

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1karēcurryka-re-e
2toiretoiletto-i-re: you'll want this one in Japan
3RoshiaRussiaro-shi-a
4hīrōherohi-i-ro-o: four beats
5RōmaRomero-o-ma
6rēsurace; lacere-e-su
7retāletterre-ta-a
8rirērelayri-re-e
9sorosoloso-ro
10koronacoronako-ro-na
11reshītoreceiptre-shi-i-to: four beats
12aroealoea-ro-e
Curry Look at カレー: curry arrived in Japan from Britain, not India, and it has become one of the country's favourite everyday meals, カレーライス (curry rice). Japanese people eat it so often that it's sometimes called a national dish, even though the name itself is a borrowed word. Katakana is a window onto what a country has adopted from elsewhere.

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Read aloud: · · · ·

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re · ro · ra · ri · ru

2. Read aloud and translate: ·

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karē (curry) · toire (toilet)

3. Read aloud and translate: · ·

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Roshia (Russia) · Rōma (Rome) · hīrō (hero)

4. Read aloud and translate: · ·

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reshīto (receipt) · rirē (relay) · soro (solo)

5. How can you tell from ?

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レ has one stroke; ル has two.

6. Write in katakana: karē · toire · Rōma (check the stroke order).

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· ·

Coming Up in Chapter 5 The last chapter of the course: ワ ヲ ン (wa, wo, n). You'll read ワイン (wine), ラーメン (ramen), レモン (lemon) and レストラン (restaurant), meet the final look-alike pair ソ and ン, and finish with a Course Complete recap.