Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "こちら" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce こちら in Japanese?

こちら is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ko.tɕi.ɾa/. It means “this way / over here.” ko-chi-ra, three even beats, with a light affricate and a single tap.

ko-chi-ra, three even beats, with a light affricate and a single tap.

こちら /ko.tɕi.ɾa/

kochira

Unaccented in standard speech, and built on three units of identical length — so the pitch steps up after ko and holds. This is the polite counterpart of ここ, and it's noticeably longer; that extra beat is part of what makes it sound more formal.

Listen: こちら

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Sound it out

ko A softly released k into a stationary short o.

chi One affricate made with the tongue blade against the palate, lighter and more forward than the ch of English "cheap," with a short tense i.

ra A single strike of the tongue tip on the ridge, then a bright short a. No trill, no curl, no lip rounding.

Hear it in a sentence

かばんはこちらに置いてください。

Kaban wa kochira ni oite kudasai.

Put the bag here.

Listen: かばんはこちらに置いてください。

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かばんはこちらに置いてください includes 置いて (o-i-te), three morae with two adjacent vowels that must stay apart. Meanwhile かばん contributes a moraic nasal. The sentence therefore alternates between beats that are pure vowel and beats that are pure nasal, with こちら's three plain morae in the middle.

Where English speakers slip

Learners reach for "ko-CHEE-ra," stretching the middle vowel and stressing it, then adding an English r. Keep the i short, level all three beats, and tap the tongue once rather than curling it. The affricate also tends to come out too heavy — Japanese ch has noticeably less friction than the English sound.