Katakana Small E

ェ is a small Japanese katakana character that joins the character before it to spell sounds in borrowed words and names. This little e appears in pairs such as ウェ and シェ. With Japanese romaji input—typing Japanese using Latin letters—try xe or le, then select katakana.

Text symbol

What ェ means

Read ェ together with the character before it. Katakana is a Japanese script used for borrowed words and foreign names. In these spellings, ウェ represents a we-like sound, シェ a she-like sound, チェ a che-like sound, and ヴェ a ve-like sound. These Latin-letter pronunciation cues describe the complete pair, not ェ alone.

Smallness is part of the spelling, not a font setting. Use the character required by the word or name rather than shrinking エ.

Spelling rules developed around foreign sounds

Japanese government guidance on spelling borrowed words began with names in 1902. A 1955 report and 1991 guidance later organized expanded spellings and alternatives. These milestones concern how foreign sounds are written in Japanese, not when ェ first appeared.

Who writes ェ

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Don't confuse it with

エ

Katakana Letter E

Full-size e. ウエ has two full-size characters; ウェ has a small second element. Follow the word's established spelling.

ヱ

Katakana Letter We

Historical full-size we, not small e. Its pronunciation merged with エ (e); it does not replace ウェ.

ぇ

Hiragana Letter Small E

Small e in hiragana, another Japanese script. If your input produces this but you need ェ, select katakana rather than changing the size.

Combination ideas

Wedding cake: an example of ウェ in a borrowed word.

Shaker: an example of シェ in a borrowed word.

Veil: an example of ヴェ in a borrowed word.

Questions people ask

Can I replace ウェ with ウエ?

Sometimes. Japanese loanword guidance permits ウエ as a general alternative to ウェ. This does not make every ェ interchangeable with エ; preserve a person's or organization's chosen name spelling.