Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "いつも" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce いつも in Japanese?

いつも is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /i.tsɯ.mo/. It means “always.” i-tsu-mo, three beats, with a real affricate in the middle and flat lips on the u.

i-tsu-mo, three beats, with a real affricate in the middle and flat lips on the u.

いつも /i.tsɯ.mo/

itsumo

Crest early, and even cutting across the three. The affricate is the beat most likely to swell, because English speakers slow down for unfamiliar sounds — keep the tempo constant so the tsu takes no longer than the i or the mo.

Listen: いつも

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

Sound it out

i A short tense vowel opening the word, over almost before it starts.

tsu One indivisible affricate: the tongue seals for t and releases straight into the s. English only allows this cluster word-finally, as in "bits," so isolating it as a mora takes practice.

mo The lips close and part, giving a stationary mid-back o that doesn't glide toward w.

Hear it in a sentence

彼はいつも遅れます。

Kare wa itsumo okuremasu.

He's always late.

Listen: 彼はいつも遅れます。

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

彼はいつも遅れます pairs it with 遅れます (o-ku-re-ma-su), five morae with a ku that can devoice and a tap in the middle. Between the affricate in いつも and the tap in 遅れます, the sentence exercises two of the consonants English speakers find hardest to place.

Where English speakers slip

"eet-SOO-mo" splits the affricate across a boundary, rounds the u, and puts stress in the middle. Fuse the t and s into one release, spread the lips, and level the three beats. Some learners drop the t altogether and say "ee-soo-mo," which removes the sound that makes つ distinctive.