ニ (ni) – Katakana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘ni’. Sounds closest to the English word ‘knee’, with an elevated ‘ee’.

About

に, in hiragana, or ニ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. The hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana in two. Notably, the katakana (ニ) is functionally identical for the kanji for two (二), pronounced the same way.

に is used as a particle, as well as a word fragment. As a particle it generally expresses direction, with a similar function to ‘to’.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: “ni” is the Japanese word for the number two, and is represented by a kanji identical to this symbol. Observe that the symbol is made up of two lines.