Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "いくら" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce いくら in Japanese?

いくら is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /i.kɯ.ɾa/. It means “how much.” i-ku-ra, three even beats, with a flat-lipped u and a single tap.

i-ku-ra, three even beats, with a flat-lipped u and a single tap.

いくら /i.kɯ.ɾa/

ikura

Even cutting throughout, with the crest on the first unit. Because the word ends in a bright open vowel, English speakers tend to let it ring out; it should stop cleanly at the end of its beat, with no extra length added for emphasis.

Listen: いくら

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Sound it out

i A clipped high vowel opens things, with no lengthening despite standing alone.

ku Almost no aspiration on the k, and then the unrounded u. A voiced r follows, so this vowel keeps its voice.

ra One strike of the tongue tip on the ridge and away, then a bright short a.

Hear it in a sentence

これはいくらですか。

Kore wa ikura desu ka?

How much does this cost?

Listen: これはいくらですか。

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

これはいくらですか is short enough to say in one breath, and every beat in it is short — ko-re-wa-i-ku-ra-de-su-ka, nine even morae with only the su devoicing. It's an excellent tempo drill because there's nothing to hold anywhere, so any unevenness is immediately audible.

Where English speakers slip

"ee-KOO-ra" rounds the u, stresses the middle beat, and stretches the opening i. Spread the lips, level the emphasis, and clip the first vowel. The r is the other giveaway: an English r here colours the whole word, where a single quick tap leaves the surrounding vowels unchanged.