How to Type Small Tsu っ

Type small っ by doubling the consonant that follows it. kitte becomes きって, gakkou becomes がっこう, and zasshi becomes ざっし. In Katakana, the same method creates ッ.

Why the doubled consonant works

Small tsu marks gemination: a brief closure or lengthening before the next consonant. Romaji often represents that effect by repeating the next consonant. The input method sees the first consonant as a request for small tsu and uses the second to begin the following Kana.

For shi, chi, and similar multi-letter Romaji spellings, repeat the leading consonant: sshi creates っし, and cchi is commonly used for っち.

Type small tsu by itself

Standard Japanese IMEs commonly accept xtsu or ltsu for っ. With Katakana output, the same sequence produces ッ. This explicit method is useful for teaching, editing, or unusual sequences.

Inside an ordinary word, doubled consonants are faster and reflect the pronunciation pattern more clearly.

Small っ is not full-size つ

Compare きって with きつて. The first contains small っ; the second contains the full mora つ and would be read differently. Size is meaningful, not decorative.

The same distinction applies to Katakana ッ and ツ.

Cases to check carefully

Not every English doubled letter means Japanese small tsu, and not every Japanese sound convention is obvious from English spelling. Type the Japanese reading rather than copying the source word’s letter pattern. Long consonants involving n and vowel length also follow separate rules.

When a converter gives an unexpected result, enter っ from the virtual Hiragana keyboard or use xtsu, then add the next Kana.

Practice the contrast

Alternate pairs such as きて and きって, or かこ and かっこ. The goal is to connect the audible pause, the small printed character, and the doubled keystroke as one pattern.