Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "遅刻する" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 遅刻する in Japanese?

遅刻する is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tɕi.ko.kɯ̥ sɯ.ɾɯ/. It means “to be late.” chi-ko-ku-su-ru, five beats — the ku whispers away and the lips stay flat throughout.

chi-ko-ku-su-ru, five beats — the ku whispers away and the lips stay flat throughout.

遅刻する /tɕi.ko.kɯ̥ sɯ.ɾɯ/

chikoku suru

Five slots delivered at one unvarying tempo. Compound verbs like this — a noun plus する — are where English rhythm does the most damage, because the two halves feel like separate words and invite a pause. Japanese runs them together as a single five-beat unit.

Listen: 遅刻する

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Sound it out

chi A light affricate made with the tongue blade against the palate, with a short tense i. Less friction than the ch of English "chin."

ko Soft k, then a stationary short o.

ku The same soft k, but this u sits between two voiceless consonants and routinely devoices — so the beat comes out as breath.

su An ordinary s into the flat-lipped u. Because an r follows, this vowel keeps its voicing.

ru One strike of the tongue tip on the ridge, then the unrounded u that ends the verb.

Hear it in a sentence

電車が遅れて遅刻しました。

Densha ga okurete chikoku shimashita.

The train was delayed and I was late.

Listen: 電車が遅れて遅刻しました。

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

電車が遅れて遅刻しました gives you 遅れて as well, so the sentence contains two words about lateness with quite different shapes: o-ku-re-te has a devoicing-prone ku and a tap, while 遅刻しました runs seven morae with two whispered vowels. Neither should slow down for its difficult beats.

Where English speakers slip

The usual output is "chee-KO-koo SOO-roo" — long vowels, rounded lips, a pause at the seam, and stress peaks in both halves. Flatten every u, close the gap between the noun and する, and let the middle ku devoice. Delivered correctly, the whole thing sounds like one word, not two.