difference between きれい and キレイ

Question

I was reading the lyrics of a song called 春先小紅　by 矢野顕子　

There is this line that says:

きょうはなんだかキレイです

I was wondering why キレイ　above is written in Katakana and not in Hiragana? Isn't katakana used for foreign words?

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 27 '14 at 18:42

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Words that are usually written in hiragana, when written in katakana, just mean it's being emphasized. You might see this in written works too, in which case the English equivalent is a word being made bold. I hope this helps!

edited Jan 27 '14 at 18:42

silvermaple

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answered Jan 27 '14 at 18:27

ヒカル

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I'd like to add that it's really an over-simplification to say that katakana is used for loanwords. It can be used for a lot of things in addition to that, like emphasis like ヒカルさん has said, and animal and plant names. – silvermaple Jan 27 '14 at 18:45
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Related: Why “dame” is written as katakana (ダメ) in manga? – istrasci Jan 27 '14 at 18:49

difference between きれい and キレイ

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