Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ある" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce ある in Japanese?

ある is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a.ɾɯ/. It means “there is / to exist (things).” a-ru, two short beats — an open vowel, one tongue-tap, and flat lips on the u.

a-ru, two short beats — an open vowel, one tongue-tap, and flat lips on the u.

ある /a.ɾɯ/

aru

Equal durations, moving pitch: a sits high and ru drops, but neither takes longer than the other. That fall is pitch only: the ru is not shorter, quieter, or more reduced than the a. English speakers who hear the pitch drop tend to also weaken the vowel, which is one habit too many.

Listen: ある

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Sound it out

a A bright open vowel starting the word cleanly, with no glottal stop before it and no lengthening just because it stands first.

ru The tongue tip strikes the ridge behind the upper teeth exactly once and falls away, then an unrounded u. This same ending appears on hundreds of verbs, so the tap is worth over-practising early.

Hear it in a sentence

机の上に本があります。

Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.

There is a book on the desk.

Listen: 机の上に本があります。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

机の上に本があります conjugates it to あります, four morae, and stacks it after が. The sentence also gives 机 (tsu-ku-e): つ as a single affricate, then a ku whose u sits between voiceless sounds and often devoices, then a full e. Three morae, one of them whispered — a good demonstration that a whispered mora still occupies its beat.

Where English speakers slip

"AH-roo" is what usually comes out: a stretched first vowel, an English r, and rounded lips on the final u. Trim the a to a single short beat, replace the r with one quick tap, and keep the lips flat and slightly spread throughout. If you can see your lips moving forward in a mirror during the u, that's English intruding.