sa / サ
The first of the S row — a clean “sa” in three strokes. Same sound as hiragana さ, opening salad, soccer, and service.
Pronunciation
The character サ represents the syllable 'sa', identical in pronunciation to hiragana さ. Very common in everyday loanwords (salad, soccer, sandwich, service) and other words with 'sa' or 'sai' sounds.
サ is the katakana twin of hiragana さ — the same “sa.” It heads a broad run of loanwords: サラダ (salad), サッカー (soccer), サービス (service), サイズ (size). Its shape echoes the top of its parent kanji 散.
How to write サ
Trace サ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
A horizontal stroke across the upper third, drawn left to right.
A short vertical dropping through the bar, just left of centre.
A longer stroke from the upper right, curving down and to the left as it descends.
Origin
Katakana サ was clipped from the kanji 散 (san, “to scatter” or “disperse”). The monks kept the crossed strokes at its upper left and dropped the rest, leaving the compact frame サ has today.
Common words starting with サ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing サ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Write the katakana you’ve learned from memory in the trainer — the ones you struggle with come back sooner, until they stick.