Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "書く" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 書く in Japanese?

書く is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ka.kɯ̥/. It means “to write.” ka-ku, two beats with two soft k's, and the final u is normally whispered away.

ka-ku, two beats with two soft k's, and the final u is normally whispered away.

書く /ka.kɯ̥/

kaku

Both beats are measured identically, with a fall after the first. Two k's in a row means the word's rhythm depends entirely on the vowels between and after them — and since one of those vowels is whispered, you have to trust the timing rather than the sound. Count two even beats regardless.

Listen: 書く

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Sound it out

ka A k released without aspiration, then a short open a. Hold a palm to your mouth: there should be no detectable puff.

ku The same k with the unrounded u after it, which devoices at the end of the word. The result is that the second beat is mostly the k itself plus a breath.

Hear it in a sentence

今手紙を書いています。

Ima tegami o kaite imasu.

I'm writing a letter now.

Listen: 今手紙を書いています。

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

今手紙を書いています has 書いて, three morae (ka-i-te) with the two vowels kept separate. 手紙 before it is three more (te-ga-mi). Notice that this te-form doesn't produce a geminate — 書く takes an い instead — so the sentence quietly demonstrates that Japanese verbs don't all conjugate the same way.

Where English speakers slip

"KAH-koo" with two full rounded vowels and stress on the first is the standard English attempt. All three of those need fixing: shorten the a, unround the u, and let the second vowel devoice. Learners also aspirate both k's, which gives the word a percussive quality that Japanese consonants simply don't have.