One of the most important things to learn in the Japanese language is, as the title suggests, Japanese pronunciation. That’s why I’ll be telling you all about how to pronounce Japanese words in this helpful article! I guarantee you’ll be mastering the Japanese language in no time.
You know how in English, the word “read” can be pronounced as “reed” or “red”, depending on whether it’s present or past tense? This is just one of the many examples of how English sounds and pronunciation can be confusing! Unlike English, the Japanese language is much more straightforward, with each Japanese word having a distinct sound and pronunciation.
How To Pronounce Japanese Words: Japanese Writing System
I’m assuming you’re already familiar with the Japanese Hiragana chart, as well as the Katana chart and some Kanji. If not, be sure to read our article on the Japanese alphabet and writing system. Once you’ve memorized the Japanese alphabet, we can move on to work on Japanese pronunciation.
How To Pronounce Japanese Words: Vowels
There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language: あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), and お (o). That’s the same number of vowels the English language has! However, while there are many ways to pronounce vowels in English, each Japanese vowel has a distinct sound that stays the same regardless of the Japanese word it’s used in! Since they’re all essentially the same sound, this makes it much easier to master Japanese pronunciation.
Here’s how you pronounce Japanese vowels:
- あ (a) is pronounced as “ah” as in “father”
- い (i) is pronounced as “ee” as in “see”
- う (u) is pronounced as “oo” as in “food”
- え (e) is pronounced as “eh” as in “bed”
- お (o) is pronounced as “oh” as in “go”
How To Pronounce Japanese Words: Consonants
Now that you’ve tackled Japanese vowels, let’s move on to Japanese consonant sounds! There are only 14 consonants in the Japanese language. That’s way less than English, which has 24 consonants! And just like for vowels, each consonant has a distinct sound.
Here’s how you pronounce Japanese consonants:
Japanese Consonants: K
- か (ka) is pronounced as “kah” as in “karate”
- き (ki) is pronounced as “kee” as in “key”
- く (ku) is pronounced as “koo” as in “cool”
- け (ke) is pronounced as “keh” as in “kettle”
- こ (ko) is pronounced as “koh” as in “coat”
Japanese Consonants: S
- さ (sa) is pronounced as “sah” as in “salsa”
- し (shi) is pronounced as “shee” as in “sheep”
- す (su) is pronounced as “soo” as in “soup”
- せ (se) is pronounced as “seh” as in “send”
- そ (so) is pronounced as “soh” as in “solar”
Japanese Consonants: T
- た (ta) is pronounced as “tah” as in “taco”
- ち (chi) is pronounced as “chee” as in “cheese”
- つ (tsu) is pronounced as “tsoo” as in “tsunami”
- て (te) is pronounced as “teh” as in “ten”
- と (to) is pronounced as “toh” as in “toe”
Japanese Consonants: N
- な (na) is pronounced as “nah” as in “nail”
- に (ni) is pronounced as “nee” as in “knee”
- ぬ (nu) is pronounced as “noo” as in “new”
- ね (ne) is pronounced as “neh” as in “net”
- の (no) is pronounced as “noh” as in “note”
Japanese Consonants: H
- は (ha) is pronounced as “hah” as in “hot”
- ひ (hi) is pronounced as “hee” as in “he”
- ふ (fu) is pronounced as “foo” as in “food”
- へ (he) is pronounced as “heh” as in “head”
- ほ (ho) is pronounced as “hoh” as in “home”
Japanese Consonants: M
- ま (ma) is pronounced as “mah” as in “mother”
- み (mi) is pronounced as “mee” as in “me”
- む (mu) is pronounced as “moo” as in “moon”
- め (me) is pronounced as “meh” as in “mend”
- も (mo) is pronounced as “moh” as in “more”
Japanese Consonants: R
- ら (ra) is pronounced as “rah” as in “rather”
- り (ri) is pronounced as “ree” as in “ring”
- る (ru) is pronounced as “roo” as in “room”
- れ (re) is pronounced as “reh” as in “rent”
- ろ (ro) is pronounced as “roh” as in “rope”
Japanese Consonants: W, O, N
- わ (wa) is pronounced as “wah” as in “whatever”
- を (wo) is pronounced as “woh” as in “worry”
- ん (n) is pronounced as “n” as in “no”
How To Pronounce Japanese Words: Dakuten (濁点)
A Dakuten (濁点), which means “dot dot”, is a mark placed after a certain hiragana to modify how a Japanese consonant is pronounced. Just like its name suggests, it looks like a double quotation mark (“). Here’s how you pronounce special Japanese consonants with Dakuten:
Japanese Consonants: K → G
- が (ga) is pronounced as “gah” as in “garnish”
- ぎ (gi) is pronounced as “gee” as in “geese”
- ぐ (gu) is pronounced as “goo” as in “good”
- げ (ge) is pronounced as “geh” as in “get”
- ご (go) is pronounced as “goh” as in “goat”
Japanese Consonants: S → Z
- ざ (za) is pronounced as “zah” as in “pizza”
- じ (ji) is pronounced as “jee” as in “jeans”
- ず (zu) is pronounced as “zoo” as in “zoo”
- ぜ (ze) is pronounced as “zeh” as in “zen”
- ぞ (zo) is pronounced as “zoh” as in “zone”
Japanese Consonants: T → D
- だ (da) is pronounced as “dah” as in “dark”
- ぢ (ji) is pronounced as “jee” as in “jeans”
- づ (tzu) is pronounced as “tzoo” as in “tzoo”
- で (de) is pronounced as “deh” as in “dell”
- ど (do) is pronounced as “doh” as in “dough”
Japanese Consonants: H → B
- ば (ba) is pronounced as “bah” as in “bar”
- び (bi) is pronounced as “bee” as in “bee”
- ぶ (bu) is pronounced as “boo” as in “boot”
- べ (be) is pronounced as “beh” as in “bet”
- ぼ (bo) is pronounced as “boh” as in “boat”
How To Pronounce Japanese Words: Handakuten (半濁点)
A Handakuten (半濁点), which means “circle”, is a mark placed after a certain hiragana to modify how a Japanese consonant is pronounced. Just like its name suggests, it looks like a small circle (o). Here’s how you pronounce special Japanese consonants with Handakuten:
Japanese Consonants: H → P
- ぱ (pa) is pronounced as “pah” as in “party”
- ぴ (pi) is pronounced as “pee” as in “pee”
- ぷ (pu) is pronounced as “poo” as in “pool”
- ぺ (pe) is pronounced as “peh” as in “pet”
- ぽ (po) is pronounced as “poh” as in “pole”
Tips On Japanese Pronunciation
If you want to get good at the Japanese language, you must spend time working on your Japanese pronunciation. Here are some tips for how you can do that:
Practice With Native Speakers
Do you know how non-native English speakers like seeking out a native English speaker to practice with because they know English pronunciation best? Likewise, you should do the same by seeking out a native Japanese speaker to practice with. You can listen to how they speak Japanese. Japanese people are really friendly in general, so they may help you with pronouncing Japanese words correctly too. With their help, you’ll get the hang of pronouncing Japanese in no time.
Mimic Native Japanese Speakers
The next step after listening to how native Japanese speakers pronounce Japanese would be to mimic them. Practice Japanese pronunciation by keeping in mind how a native Japanese speaker would pronounce words, and then mimicking their pronunciation. This will really help you pronounce Japanese words correctly. And once you’ve mastered Japanese sounds, you can try practicing different Japanese words.
Record Yourself Pronouncing Japanese
You can also practice speaking Japanese and Japanese sounds by recording your voice. Whether you prefer to record on your phone or your laptop, hearing your spoken Japanese can help you pronounce Japanese correctly. If you hear yourself saying that doesn’t sound quite right, simply record yourself again, this time with the right Japanese pronunciation. Repetition will help you get better at remembering Japanese sounds.
Break Down Japanese Words
If you’re having trouble when it comes to Japanese pronunciation for long phrases like ありがとうございます (Arigatō gozaimasu), don’t fret! Just like how you would eat a big chocolate bar or チョコレートバー (Chokore-to ba-), simply break it down into smaller pieces! Be mindful of the Japanese sounds and syllables within a Japanese word. Practice the Japanese pronunciation for individual sounds before putting them together, and できあがり (Dekiagari)! Congratulations, you’ve mastered Japanese pronunciation.
Ready to Learn Japanese Pronunciation?
That’s it, all you need to know about Japanese pronunciation! If you want to get even better at speaking Japanese beyond just correct pronunciation, don’t forget to download the Ling app! You’ll get better at learning Japanese and find yourself learning many Japanese words. So try out the Ling App today! Till next time, さようなら (Sayōnara)!
