How to Pronounce '出かける': Japanese Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce 出かける in Japanese?

出かける is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /de.ka.ke.ɾɯ/. It means “to go out.” de-ka-ke-ru, four level beats, with two identical k's and no stress anywhere.

How do you pronounce "出かける" in Japanese?

de-ka-ke-ru, four level beats, with two identical k's and no stress anywhere.

出かける /de.ka.ke.ɾɯ/

dekakeru

Four identical slots with no accent anywhere — a completely flat word, the pitch stepping up after the first and staying there. Four-syllable words are where English speakers most reliably insert a stress peak — usually on the third beat here — and where Japanese most conspicuously has none.

Listen: 出かける

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Sound it out

de Dental d — tongue tip on the upper teeth — into a short front e that stays put instead of gliding toward "day."

ka The k is released quietly, without the burst of air English gives "car," and the a is bright and brief.

ke The same k with a different vowel. Because the two k-morae sit side by side, any change in the consonant between them will be audible — keep both equally soft.

ru A d-like flick of the tongue tip, then the flat-lipped u. The whole gesture takes a fraction of the time an English r would.

Hear it in a sentence

今晩出かけませんか。

Konban dekakemasen ka?

Shall we go out tonight?

Listen: 今晩出かけませんか。

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今晩出かけませんか combines it with 今晩 (ko-n-ba-n), four morae with two nasals, the first of which becomes an m-like closure because a b follows. The sentence then runs the verb straight into ませんか, five more morae ending on a moraic nasal plus the question particle. Ten-plus beats with no gaps.

Where English speakers slip

"deh-ka-KEH-roo" is what emerges, complete with a stressed third beat and a rounded, rhotic ending. Level all four beats, freeze both e vowels so they don't diphthongise, and unround the final u. Because the word is long, the temptation to "organise" it with English rhythm is strong — resist and keep it flat.