う and ウ

Pronunciation

“U” in Oof.

These characters represent the “U” sound in “OOF”. Because it is written with a “u” in Roman letters, many people mistakenly read it as “uh”.

う Memorization Story

The hiragana う is the image of a person getting punched in the gut, “OOF” escaping from their lips with the punch.

ウ Memorization Story

The katakana ウ is what the punched う SEES in front of him. 

Writing

 
 

Notice how the first stroke cuts back in bringing you back towards the second stroke.

The katakana ウ is very similar to the hiragana う, but you may already have noticed an important distinction BETWEEN hiragana and katakana. Namely, that hiragana is usually more CIRCULAR and flowing, with each stroke leading into the next. KATAKANA, on the other hand, has more right-angles, and appears more computeristic. Is that a word?

Font Examples

う  ウ

う  ウ

う  ウ

う  ウ

う  ウ

 

Typing

Hiragana う
Type the letter “u”.

Katakana ウ
Type "u" and press the F7 key, or press spacebar until the katakana appears. 

Word(s)

あう

to meet

いう

to say

 

We don’t have enough characters to read the katakana ウ yet, but we’ll encounter it plenty later on!

 

 

Historical Form

Hiragana
宇→う

HISTORICAL VERSION

 

Katakana
宇→ウ

PART BORROWED

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