What's the difference between Hiragana and Katakana?

What's the difference between Hiragana and Katakana?

Hiragana

• Hiragana is used for writing out Japanese words.

• Ex1) こんにちは - Hello

• Ex2) はい - Yes

• Ex3) いいえ - No
  

• Ex4) すみません - Excuse me

• Ex5) ありがとう - Thank you

Katakana

• Katakana is used for foreign words.

• Ex1) バスケット - Basket

• Ex2) ドレス - Dress

• Ex3) デスク - Desk

• Ex4) レベル - Level

• Ex5) ビデオ - Video

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Hiragana phonetically spells out Japanese words, whereas Katakana spells out foreign words and/or names.

The great thing about both is that they are both read the same way. For example, あ and ア are pronounced as 'a', い and イ are pronounced as i, and え and エ are pronounced as 'e'.