Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "いい" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce いい in Japanese?

いい is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /iː/. It means “good / nice.” One long "eee," held for two full beats — length is the entire word.

One long "eee," held for two full beats — length is the entire word.

いい /iː/

Two morae, one sound. Because there's nothing else in the word, the only rhythmic information available is duration — which is precisely why beginners find it slippery. In standard speech the pitch starts high and falls across the vowel, so you hear a descending hum rather than a flat one, but the two-beat length holds either way.

Listen: いい

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Sound it out

ii A single high front vowel, tense and unwavering, sustained for two morae. Don't let it dip, rearticulate, or add a glottal bump in the middle; it's one uninterrupted stream of sound that simply lasts twice as long as a short i.

Hear it in a sentence

これはとてもいい本です。

Kore wa totemo ii hon desu.

This is a very good book.

Listen: これはとてもいい本です。

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これはとてもいい本です puts いい directly before 本, and that boundary is a trap: hon begins with an h, so there is nothing to stop the long i from bleeding into it. Keep the vowel long and then land the h cleanly. とても just before it is three crisp short beats, which gives you a useful contrast in the same breath.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "ee" — one beat — because English doesn't use vowel length to distinguish words, so the doubled letter reads as decorative. It isn't. A short i here sounds truncated and unnatural to a native ear. Say it long enough that it feels theatrical; that's usually about right. Also avoid the English "ee" of "see," which tends to glide slightly; Japanese i stays put.