shi is more horizontal, tsu is more vertical. If you study the proper way to write them it might help you distinguish them a little easier too
I’ve always remembered it by thinking of the word “shihtzu” (as in the dog) and picturing the katakana as two little dogs looking at each other: シツ. The first is し and the second is つ. Whenever I’m trying to figure out which one I’m looking at, I just think of which way its looking, if its looking to the right, its シ(shi) otherwise its ツ(tsu). Not sure if that makes sense but its always worked for me.
Write ツ and then write a つ over top of it. Notice how the short lines make neat little right angles where they intersect with the つ. This means ツ = つ.
Now write シ and then write a つ on top of it. Notice how the short lines don’t intersect with it cleanly. This means シ ≠ つ.
(You can do the same thing with シ and し, although the short lines don’t intersect as cleanly, depending on how you write it.)
Another way to remember is that ツ and つ are both written clockwise, while シ and し are written counterclockwise.
My Japanese host dad told me that they are written in the direction of the actual hiragana version. So shi goes from top left to bottom and then to top right. Tsu starts top left and then goes from right top to left bottom.
write them carefully and deliberately and with proper stroke order and direction
シツソノン and しつこりい can all bleed into each other, depending on the quality of writing or the font
never too early to pay attention to proper handwriting, every sense you can engage makes for stronger learning
for some it helps to know where kana come from to see where the shapes come from and help imagine them in that context
you could learn the kanji that were the basis for kana you have trouble with, learn them properly and with correct stroke order, and then see their connection to the simplified characters. that might help contextualize them in a new way
Maybe a bit crude, but I remember reading a way to remember it is the phrase, “I look up, when I シt.” As opposed to the downwards facing ツ. It’s a very silly way to remember it but it works for me.
7 comments
shi is more horizontal, tsu is more vertical. If you study the proper way to write them it might help you distinguish them a little easier too
I’ve always remembered it by thinking of the word “shihtzu” (as in the dog) and picturing the katakana as two little dogs looking at each other: シツ. The first is し and the second is つ. Whenever I’m trying to figure out which one I’m looking at, I just think of which way its looking, if its looking to the right, its シ(shi) otherwise its ツ(tsu). Not sure if that makes sense but its always worked for me.
Write ツ and then write a つ over top of it. Notice how the short lines make neat little right angles where they intersect with the つ. This means ツ = つ.
Now write シ and then write a つ on top of it. Notice how the short lines don’t intersect with it cleanly. This means シ ≠ つ.
(You can do the same thing with シ and し, although the short lines don’t intersect as cleanly, depending on how you write it.)
Another way to remember is that ツ and つ are both written clockwise, while シ and し are written counterclockwise.
My Japanese host dad told me that they are written in the direction of the actual hiragana version. So shi goes from top left to bottom and then to top right. Tsu starts top left and then goes from right top to left bottom.
write them carefully and deliberately and with proper stroke order and direction
シツソノン and しつこりい can all bleed into each other, depending on the quality of writing or the font
never too early to pay attention to proper handwriting, every sense you can engage makes for stronger learning
for some it helps to know where kana come from to see where the shapes come from and help imagine them in that context
[https://omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm](https://omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm)
[https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kana](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kana)
you could learn the kanji that were the basis for kana you have trouble with, learn them properly and with correct stroke order, and then see their connection to the simplified characters. that might help contextualize them in a new way
Maybe a bit crude, but I remember reading a way to remember it is the phrase, “I look up, when I シt.” As opposed to the downwards facing ツ. It’s a very silly way to remember it but it works for me.
Japanese Ammo with Misa treating exactly your problem
https://youtu.be/CYCDyeT9ZDc