difference between hiragana and katakana

[dshin928680]

hello, I've just finished studying hiragana but i just found out there's katakana Can you please tell me the difference between the two? I don't understand the difference. thanks

[ericf]

They are both phonetic character sets. Typically hiragana is used in Japanese words and katakana for "loan" words and western names.

e.g. hiragana:
しんかんせん
たべる　(to eat)
よむ (to read)

katakana:
パン (bread)
ハンバーガー (hamburger)
ピーター (Peter)


じゃね
エリック