Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "話す" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 話す in Japanese?

話す is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ha.na.sɯ̥/. It means “to speak / talk.” ha-na-su, three even beats, and the final su usually devoices into a soft hiss.

ha-na-su, three even beats, and the final su usually devoices into a soft hiss.

話す /ha.na.sɯ̥/

hanasu

The melody peaks on na and falls at the end, but all three slots are measured identically. Two of the three vowels are the same a, which makes the word a clean test: if the first a and the second a differ in length or clarity, English reduction has crept in.

Listen: 話す

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Sound it out

ha A light breath of h — softer than English — into a short bright a.

na Tongue tip at the teeth-ridge, then an a identical to the first one. The two must match in length and quality.

su An ordinary s, then the unrounded u, which at the end of the word after a voiceless consonant typically loses its voicing. The word ends on air rather than on a vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

日本語を話しますか。

Nihongo o hanashimasu ka?

Do you speak Japanese?

Listen: 日本語を話しますか。

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

日本語を話しますか conjugates it to 話します and adds the question particle. 日本語 in front is four morae with a nasal beat in the middle (ni-ho-n-go). Note that the shi in 話します sits between voiced sounds and so stays fully voiced, unlike the su of the dictionary form — the same verb, different devoicing behaviour depending on the ending.

Where English speakers slip

The standard error is "ha-NAH-soo" with a stretched stressed middle and a rounded final vowel. Both a's should be short and identical, and the closing u should be flat-lipped and barely voiced. Learners also tend to strengthen the initial h into the forceful English version; Japanese h is gentler, more a shaped exhalation than a proper fricative.