Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "忙しい" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 忙しい in Japanese?

忙しい is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /i.so.ɡa.ɕiː/. It means “busy.” i-so-ga-shi-i, five beats — four short ones and then a long i held for two.

i-so-ga-shi-i, five beats — four short ones and then a long i held for two.

忙しい /i.so.ɡa.ɕiː/

isogashii

Five morae, with the last two given to a single held vowel. The word is long enough that English speakers instinctively organise it with a stress peak — usually on "ga" — which Japanese doesn't have. Keep the first four beats flat and put all the extra time into the final vowel instead.

Listen: 忙しい

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Sound it out

i The opening vowel is a clipped i — tense and high — with no lengthening despite its initial position.

so Ordinary s, then a stationary o that doesn't glide toward w.

ga The g is hard, followed by a bright short a — or the nasalised "nga" many Tokyo speakers prefer mid-word.

shii A light palatal hiss and then an i sustained across two morae. The vowel should still be sounding after your English instincts say the word is over.

Hear it in a sentence

母はいつも忙しいです。

Haha wa itsumo isogashii desu.

My mother is always busy.

Listen: 母はいつも忙しいです。

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

母はいつも忙しいです has 母 (ha-ha), two identical morae, and いつも (i-tsu-mo), three morae with an affricate. Then the five of 忙しい. It's a long line with no geminates and no nasals, so its whole duration is a matter of counting morae honestly — around twelve beats.

Where English speakers slip

"i-so-GA-shee" adds a stress peak and clips the ending, losing a mora at the same time. Level the four short beats and double the last vowel. Learners also tend to rush the opening i because it's a bare vowel with no consonant to anchor it — give it a full beat before moving on.