How to Say "Cat" in Japanese

Last Updated: January 22, 2023

Japanese is a very interesting language, and one of the most exciting ones to learn. Saying “cat” in Japanese is also very easy. Read on to learn how.

Steps

1
Say "Ne" (ね). The "e" is pronounced as the short e sound. Think of it like saying "neh".^{[1]
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- Don't pronounce "ne" like you would pronounce the word "knee".
2
Say "Ko" (こ). This is pronounced "koh" as in the "oh" sound.^{[2]
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3
Say "Neko" (ねこ, or 猫). Pronounced "Nekoh".^{[3]
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Community Q&A

Question

Is Neko pronounced the same way in Katakana and Kanji?

Vaishnavi Nistala

Community Answer

The pronunciation of words doesn't change with the script, although the meaning might. It's the same language, only with three different alphabets.