Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "帰る" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 帰る in Japanese?

帰る is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ka.e.ɾɯ/. It means “to return / go home.” ka-e-ru, three beats — "ka" and "e" are separate morae, so it doesn't sound like English "care."

ka-e-ru, three beats — "ka" and "e" are separate morae, so it doesn't sound like English "care."

帰る /ka.e.ɾɯ/

kaeru

All three slots are measured the same. Note that this word and 変える ("to change") are identical in romaji; standard Tokyo speech distinguishes them by pitch accent, but for a learner the reliable cues are context and the written kanji, not melody. What both share is a strict three-beat rhythm with the a and e kept apart.

Listen: 帰る

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Sound it out

ka A quietly released k into a short open a. No aspiration, no lengthening.

e A bare short front e occupying its own beat, arriving straight off the a with no glide between them. This is the mora English speakers delete.

ru One brush of the tongue tip against the ridge and away, followed by the unrounded u that ends every dictionary-form verb of this type.

Hear it in a sentence

もうすぐ家に帰ります。

Mou sugu ie ni kaerimasu.

I'm going home soon.

Listen: もうすぐ家に帰ります。

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もうすぐ家に帰ります gives 家 (i-e) just before the verb — another two-vowel word with no consonant between the morae. So the sentence hands you i-e and then ka-e-ri in close succession, and if you fuse either pair the whole line shortens audibly. もう at the front is a long o worth two beats.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone produces "KAI-roo" or "KAY-roo," merging the a and e into one English vowel and stressing it. That deletes a mora and makes the verb hard to recognise. Say ka, then e, as two separate pulses; once the three-beat shape is solid the join can smooth out without the count collapsing.