How to write ニ (ni) in katakana
ニ (ni) never takes the voicing marks. Its shape keeps a part of the kanji 二 (“two”). It takes two short strokes: the first from the top left going rightwards, the last ending at the bottom right. Loanwords that begin with it: ニー (“knee”), ニック (“nick”), ニット (“knit”) and ニヒル (“nihilistic”).
- Romaji
- ni
- Strokes
- 2
- From
- 二 (some say 仁)
- Hiragana
- に
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- top leftrightwards
- bottom leftrightwards
Where ニ comes from
The two scripts took this sound from different kanji, 二 (“two”) and 仁 (“humanity”).
Look-alikes
- ミ, 3 strokes
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Combined sounds
- ニャ nya
- ニュ nyu
- ニョ nyo
Words with ニ
180 common JMdict katakana words with it; ten shown.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ニー | nii | knee |
| ニック | nikku | nick |
| ニット | nitto | knit; knitted fabric |
| ニヒル | nihiru | nihilistic |
| ニュー | nyuu | new |
| ニーズ | niizu | needs; demands |
| ニート | niito | NEET (young person not in education, employment or training) |
| ニアミス | niamisu | near miss; just missing (each other) |
| ニコチン | nikochin | nicotine |
| ニコニコ | nikoniko | with a friendly grin; smilingly |
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kana: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Katakana, in chart order: