Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ほしい" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce ほしい in Japanese?

ほしい is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ho.ɕiː/. It means “to want.” ho-shi-i, three beats — the doubled i at the end is one vowel held for two counts.

ho-shi-i, three beats — the doubled i at the end is one vowel held for two counts.

ほしい /ho.ɕiː/

hoshii

Three morae, unevenly distributed across two written syllables: one beat for ho, two for the long i. Standard speech puts the accent so that the pitch falls partway through, but the duration is what carries the word's identity — a short final i makes it sound truncated and slightly wrong.

Listen: ほしい

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Sound it out

ho A gentle h, less forceful than English, into a short fixed o. The breath should be soft enough that it doesn't sound like a sigh.

shii A thin palatal hiss, then an i sustained for two full morae. It's one continuous vowel rather than two — don't rearticulate in the middle, and don't let it dip. The whole shi-i sequence takes twice as long as the ho before it.

Hear it in a sentence

アイスクリームがほしいです。

Aisukuriimu ga hoshii desu.

I want an ice cream.

Listen: アイスクリームがほしいです。

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アイスクリームがほしいです is a loanword feast: アイスクリーム is seven morae (a-i-su-ku-ri-i-mu), with two separate vowels at the start, a devoicing-prone su and ku, a long i, and a final unrounded mu. English "ice cream" is three syllables. Then ほしい adds its own long vowel. The sentence is essentially a lesson in how much longer Japanese renders borrowed words.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers produce "ho-SHEE" in two beats with stress on the second, because the doubled letter looks decorative. It isn't — hold that i until it feels excessive. The h is the other issue: English h is stronger and more turbulent than the Japanese one, which is closer to a shaped breath than to a real fricative.