How to write ラ (ra) in katakana
ラ (ra) never takes the voicing marks. Its shape keeps a part of the kanji 良 (“good”). It takes two short strokes: the first from the top left going rightwards, the last ending at the bottom left. Loanwords that begin with it: ラグ (“rug”), ラス (“lath”), ラフ (“rough”) and ラブ (“love”).
- Romaji
- ra
- Strokes
- 2
- From
- 良
- Hiragana
- ら
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- top leftrightwards
- leftrightwards → down and left
Where ラ comes from
- Katakana
- 良, a part of the kanji
- Hiragana
- ら from 良
Here both scripts start from the same kanji, 良 (“good”).
Look-alikes
- テ, 3 strokes
- ヲ, 3 strokes
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Words with ラ
559 common JMdict katakana words with it; ten shown.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ラグ | ragu | rug |
| ラス | rasu | lath |
| ラフ | rafu | rough; casual (clothing) |
| ラブ | rabu | love; love |
| ラボ | rabo | lab; language lab |
| ラマ | rama | llama (Lama glama) |
| ラム | ramu | lamb; lamb (meat) |
| ラメ | rame | lamé (cloth made from gold or silver thread) |
| ラン | ran | run |
| ライス | raisu | rice |
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kana: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Katakana, in chart order: