Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "誰も" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 誰も in Japanese?

誰も is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /da.ɾe mo/. It means “no one (used with a negative).” da-re-mo, three beats run together as one unit — the も attaches with no pause.

da-re-mo, three beats run together as one unit — the も attaches with no pause.

誰も /da.ɾe mo/

dare mo

Three slots delivered as one continuous run. The も is grammatically a particle but rhythmically part of the word, so there is no gap, no restart, and no separate accent on it — 誰 and も share a single contour.

Listen: 誰も

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

Sound it out

da A dental d released quietly into a bright short a.

re A single tap of the tongue tip on the ridge, then a short front e that stays put.

mo The particle も, joined on with no break at all. A lip closure, then a stationary mid-back o.

Hear it in a sentence

ここには誰もいません。

Koko ni wa dare mo imasen.

There's no one here.

Listen: ここには誰もいません。

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

ここには誰もいません requires the negative いません at the end, and that pairing is the whole grammar of the word: 誰も means "no one" only when a negative follows. いません is four morae ending on a moraic ん, so the sentence closes on a full beat of hum.

Where English speakers slip

The temptation is to pause before も, as English pauses before "anyone" or "no one," and to stress it. Both are wrong: glue the particle on and keep all three beats equal. The r also needs to be a tap rather than an English approximant, which otherwise colours the vowels around it.