When to use "hiragana" vs "katakana"?

Hi there

Thank you for your question. 

There are 3 types of alphabets used in Japan, namely; hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana is the most basic and is used most often. Katakana is used for foreign words, and just as with English, Japanese has a ton of loan words brought in from other languages (Eg. your name would be spelled using this alphabet). This is when Katakana will be used. Then there is Kanji, which uses Chinese characters and is the most complicated.

Katakana tend to be used for foreign words and names, technical terms, and onomatopoeia. Sometimes Hiragana is written beside or above a Kanji to show how it is pronounced.

Both Hiragana and Katakana are derived from Chinese characters (Kanji). They are both phonetic letters, meaning they tell you how to pronounce the word. The basic difference between the two is that Hiragana is used to spell Japanese-origin words whereas Katakana is for non-Japanese words.

I hope this helps you and we look forward to answering any further questions you may have!