The katakana long vowel mark ー

The idea

In katakana, ー extends the vowel immediately before it by one mora: ケー is kē and コー is kō. It can follow a combination, as in ジュー (jū), and it may appear more than once in a word, as in コーヒー.

Examples

• ケーキを食たべます。I eat cake.
• コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee.
• 明日あした、いっしょにカレーを食たべませんか。Would you like to have curry together tomorrow?
• スーパーへ行いきます。I go to the supermarket.
• スープを飲のみます。I drink soup.
• ジュースを飲のみます。I drink juice.

Watch out

ー is part of the spelling, not a disposable hyphen. It extends the preceding vowel; it does not always mean a long o.

Try it yourself

1. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: ケ＿キ (kēki).

   Show answer or example answer

   ー

   Compare the written parts and reading: ケ + ー = kē；ケーキ = kēki.

2. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: コ＿ヒー (kōhī).

   Show answer or example answer

   ー

   Compare the written parts and reading: コ + ー = kō；コーヒー = kōhī.

3. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: ジュ＿ス (jūsu).

   Show answer or example answer

   ー

   Compare the written parts and reading: ジュ + ー = jū；ジュース = jūsu.

Use it today

Cover the chart, read two examples aloud and write one target word from memory. Compare its spelling and timing with the original.