に, in hiragana

Hiragana

is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

, or ニ in katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

, is one of the Japanese kana

Kana

Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...

, which each represent one mora

Mora (linguistics)

Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...

. The hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana in two. Both represent /ni/ although for phonological reasons

Japanese phonology

This article deals with the phonology of the Japanese language.-Consonants:The Japanese vowels are pronounced as monophthongs, unlike in English; except for , they are similar to their Spanish or Italian counterparts....

, the actual pronunciation is [nʲi].

Notably, the katakana (ニ) is functionally identical for the kanji for two (二), pronounced the same way.

に is used as a particle, as well as a word fragment. As a particle it generally expresses direction, with a similar function to the English 'to'.

i.e Ton wa, Furansu "ni" ikimashita. Ton went "to" France.

Pan wa, Ton "ni" agemashita. Bread was given "to" Ton.

Form	Rōmaji	Hiragana Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...	Katakana Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
Normal n- (な行 na-gyō)	ni	に	ニ
	nii nī	にい, にぃ にー	ニイ, ニィ ニー
Addition yōon Yoon is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added sound.Yōon are represented in hiragana using a kana ending in i, such as き , plus a smaller-than-usual version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo. For example kyō, "today", is written きょう, using a small version of...  ny- (にゃ行 nya-gyō)	nya	にゃ	ニャ
	nyaa nyā, nyah	にゃあ にゃー	ニャア ニャー
	nyu	にゅ	ニュ
	nyuu nyū	にゅう にゅー	ニュウ ニュー
	nyo	にょ	ニョ
	nyou nyoo nyō, nyoh	にょう にょお にょー	ニョウ ニョオ ニョー

Other additional forms

EWLINE Form (ny-) Rōmaji Hiragana Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora... Katakana Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora... (nya) (にゃ) (ニャ) (nyi) (にぃ) (ニィ) (nyu) (にゅ) (ニュ) nye にぇ ニェ (nyo) (にょ) (ニョ)

Stroke order

The hiragana に is made with three strokes:

1. A vertical stroke from top to bottom.
2. A short, horizontal stroke to the upper right of the first stroke, going from left to right.
3. Another short, horizontal stroke at the bottom right of the first stroke, going from left to right.

The katakana ニ is made with two strokes:

1. At the top, a horizontal stroke from left to right.
2. Another, longer horizontal stroke under the first stroke