# ウ — katakana “u”

ウ is the katakana character for the sound “u”. It is written with 3 strokes, and in hiragana the same sound is う.

- Reading: u
- Strokes: 3
- Hiragana: う

## How ウ sounds

Like the oo in “food”, but shorter and with relaxed lips, not rounded.

## Don't confuse it with

ワ

## Words with ウ

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ウール | uuru | wool |
| ウイルス | uirusu | virus |
| ブラウス | burausu | blouse |
| カウンター | kauntaa | counter |
| チェックアウト | chekkuauto | checking out |
| ウェイトレス | weitoresu | waitress |

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/katakana-chart/u/. Last updated 2026-11-01.