Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "か" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce か in Japanese?

か is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ka/. It means “question marker (turns a sentence into a question).” One beat, an unaspirated k into an open a — and no rising intonation just because it makes a question.

One beat, an unaspirated k into an open a — and no rising intonation just because it makes a question.

か /ka/

A single mora at the end of a sentence. Here's the counterintuitive part for English speakers: this particle already marks the sentence as a question grammatically, so Japanese does not need the sharp rising intonation English uses. In neutral polite speech か is often said flat or even slightly falling.

Listen: か

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Sound it out

ka The k releases without the puff of air English gives "car" — hold your palm in front of your mouth and you should feel almost nothing. The a is bright, short and unreduced.

Hear it in a sentence

これは何ですか。

Kore wa nan desu ka?

What is this?

Listen: これは何ですか。

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これは何ですか shows the standard ending ですか, where the devoiced su runs into the か and the whole thing lands as roughly "dess-ka." Note that 何 here is read nan rather than nani before です — three morae, na-n-de-su-ka in total, with the ん taking its own beat.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers do two things at once: aspirate the k like the start of "car," and swoop the pitch upward as if it were an English yes-no question. Neither is right. Soften the release so no air escapes, keep the vowel short, and let the pitch stay level — the grammar is already doing the questioning, so the melody doesn't have to.