W
ワヲン — The W Row
01
The last of the 46 basic katakana
The W row — ワ ヲ ン — completes the 46 basic katakana. ワ (wa) is everyday; ヲ (wo) is archaic, surviving only as a rare particle normally written を in hiragana; and ン is the standalone “n,” one of the most frequent characters in katakana because it closes so many loanwords. Learn these three and you can read every basic katakana.
Two to watch: ン (n) versus ソ (so): ン's first mark is flatter and its long stroke sweeps up; ソ's mark is steeper and sweeps down. And don't worry much about ヲ — in real text the “o” particle is almost always written を in hiragana.
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Pronunciation at a glance
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Loanwords with ワ and ン
ワ and ン turn up across countless loanwords (ヲ has essentially none). Here are a few you'll recognise.
ワインwainwine
ハワイhawaiHawaii
パンpanbread
ペンpenpen
レモンremonlemon
ラインrainline
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What's next
That's all 46 basic katakana! Next come the voiced rows: add a dakuten (゛) to get the G, Z, D, and B rows, and a handakuten (゜) for the P row — starting with ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ.