Japanese Pronunciation - Master Japanese Sounds
46 flashcards · Beginner · Language Learning
Learn to pronounce every core Japanese syllable with the basic hiragana chart (gojūon) — each sound with Hepburn romaji, a clear description with an English approximation, a simple example word, and native-speaker audio.
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あ
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Vowels
The 'a' sound, like 'a' in father
あ
Pronunciation
a
What you'll learn
- The five pure Japanese vowel sounds and their English approximations
- Each consonant row: K, S, T, N, H, M, Y, R, and W
- Why し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu, and ふ is fu
- How the vowel u is often devoiced or whispered
- The syllabic ん and the object-marking particle を
- A simple example word for every sound, with native-speaker audio
What's inside: all 46 cards
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Vowels · 5
- あ/ a /
- The 'a' sound, like 'a' in father
- い/ i /
- The 'i' sound, like 'ee' in see, kept short
- う/ u /
- The 'u' sound, like 'oo' in food but with unrounded lips
- え/ e /
- The 'e' sound, like 'e' in pet
- お/ o /
- The 'o' sound, like 'o' in more
K-row · 5
- か/ ka /
- The 'ka' sound, like 'ca' in car
- き/ ki /
- The 'ki' sound, like the word 'key'
- く/ ku /
- The 'ku' sound, like 'coo'
- け/ ke /
- The 'ke' sound, like 'ke' in kept
- こ/ ko /
- The 'ko' sound, like 'co' in coat
S-row · 5
- さ/ sa /
- The 'sa' sound, like 'sa' in salsa
- し/ shi /
- The 'shi' sound, like 'she' — note: it is shi, not si
- す/ su /
- The 'su' sound, like 'soo'; the u is often devoiced or whispered
- せ/ se /
- The 'se' sound, like 'se' in set
- そ/ so /
- The 'so' sound, like 'so' in sew
T-row · 5
- た/ ta /
- The 'ta' sound, like 'ta' in taco
- ち/ chi /
- The 'chi' sound, like 'chee' in cheese — note: it is chi, not ti
- つ/ tsu /
- The 'tsu' sound, the 'ts' in cats plus 'oo' — note: it is tsu, not tu
- て/ te /
- The 'te' sound, like 'te' in ten
- と/ to /
- The 'to' sound, like 'to' in tote
N-row · 5
- な/ na /
- The 'na' sound, like 'na' in nacho
- に/ ni /
- The 'ni' sound, like 'nee' in need
- ぬ/ nu /
- The 'nu' sound, like 'noo' in noon
- ね/ ne /
- The 'ne' sound, like 'ne' in net
- の/ no /
- The 'no' sound, like the word 'no'
H-row · 5
- は/ ha /
- The 'ha' sound, like 'ha' in hah
- ひ/ hi /
- The 'hi' sound, like 'hee' in heat
- ふ/ fu /
- The 'fu' sound, a soft f blown gently between the lips, like 'foo' — note: not hu
- へ/ he /
- The 'he' sound, like 'he' in hen
- ほ/ ho /
- The 'ho' sound, like 'ho' in hope
M-row · 5
- ま/ ma /
- The 'ma' sound, like 'ma' in mama
- み/ mi /
- The 'mi' sound, like 'mee' in meet
- む/ mu /
- The 'mu' sound, like 'moo'
- め/ me /
- The 'me' sound, like 'me' in met
- も/ mo /
- The 'mo' sound, like 'mo' in most
Y-row · 3
- や/ ya /
- The 'ya' sound, like 'ya' in yacht
- ゆ/ yu /
- The 'yu' sound, like the word 'you'
- よ/ yo /
- The 'yo' sound, like 'yo' in yoga
R-row · 5
- ら/ ra /
- The 'ra' sound, a light tongue tap between English r, l, and d
- り/ ri /
- The 'ri' sound, a light tongue tap, like a soft 'ree'
- る/ ru /
- The 'ru' sound, a light tongue tap, like a soft 'roo'
- れ/ re /
- The 're' sound, a light tongue tap, like a soft 'reh'
- ろ/ ro /
- The 'ro' sound, a light tongue tap, like a soft 'roh'
W-row & N · 3
- わ/ wa /
- The 'wa' sound, like 'wa' in water
- を/ wo /
- The 'wo' sound, used only as the object-marking particle and pronounced the same as 'o'
- ん/ n /
- The 'n' sound, a syllabic nasal that only ends syllables and never begins a word
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