LingoDrop
Japanese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "他" in Japanese?
ho-ka, two short beats with a gentle h and an unaspirated k.
hoka
Equal beats, with the melody high on the first. Both consonants here are ones English produces more forcefully than Japanese, so the word's whole character depends on restraint — soft h, soft k, and no extra length on either vowel.
Listen: 他
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
他に何かほしいですか。
Hoka ni nanika hoshii desu ka?
Do you want something else?
Listen: 他に何かほしいですか。
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他に何かほしいですか includes 何か (na-ni-ka), three morae with a palatalised second n, and ほしい, whose long final i needs two beats. So the sentence gives you a short flat word, a three-beat question word, and then a held vowel — an ascending scale of duration.
Where English speakers slip
The giveaway is aspiration: English speakers push air through both the h and the k, producing a breathy "HO-kah" that sounds heavier than the Japanese word. Soften both releases, shorten both vowels, and keep the o from gliding. Neither beat should feel like the word's centre.