Loanwords often use katakana, and their vowel length is part of their spelling.

The idea

The mark ー extends the vowel immediately before it by one mora: コー has a long o, ヒー a long i, and ケー a long e. In シャワー, it extends the a of ワ. Count each mark as a beat.

Patterns to compare
WordLong vowel
コーヒーオー・イー
ケーキエー
タクシーイー
シャワーアー

Examples

  • 朝あさ、コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee in the morning.
  • 友達ともだちとケーキを食たべます。I eat cake with a friend.
  • タクシーで駅えきへ行いきます。I take a taxi to the station.
  • 公園こうえんでサッカーをします。I play soccer in the park.
  • 夜よる、シャワーを浴あびます。I take a shower at night.
  • 店みせでノートを買かいます。I buy a notebook at the store.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not insert ー merely because the source language has a long vowel, or leave it out because it seems decorative. Learn each Japanese word’s established spelling; variants can exist.

Try it yourself

  1. コ＿ヒ＿

    Show answer or example answer

    コーヒー

    コーヒー has two long vowels: write ー after both コ and ヒ.

  2. タクシ＿

    Show answer or example answer

    タクシー

    タクシー ends in a long i, so ー follows シ.

  3. シャワ＿

    Show answer or example answer

    シャワー

    シャワー ends in a long a: ー follows ワ, not シャ.

Use it today

Read the examples aloud, tapping one beat per kana and one for each ー. Then complete the three loanwords.