How to Say "Cat" in Japanese

Last Updated: August 10, 2021

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 "Coh" as in the "oh" sound. It's similar to the sound that you make when you say the "co" in "co-owners".^{[2]
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3
Say "Neko" (ねこ, or 猫). Pronounced "Necoh".^{[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.