に, in hiragana, or ニ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. The hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana in two. Both represent although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is . Notably, the katakana (ニ) is functionally identical to the kanji for two (二), pronounced the same way, and written similarly. に is used as a particle, with a similar function to the English "to", "in", "at", or "by": Stroke order The hiragana に is made with three strokes: A vertical stroke from top to bottom. A short, horizontal stroke to the upper right of the first stroke, going from left to right. 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: At the top, a horizontal stroke from left to right. Another, longer horizontal stroke under the first stroke Other communicative representations Full Braille representation Computer encodings See also Japanese grammar References Handbook of Japanese Grammar - Masahiro Tanimori (Tuttle 1994) Specific kana