Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "前に" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 前に in Japanese?

前に is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ma.e.ɲi/. It means “before.” ma-e-ni, three beats — the a and e are separate morae, so it isn't the English word "my."

ma-e-ni, three beats — the a and e are separate morae, so it isn't the English word "my."

前に /ma.e.ɲi/

mae ni

All three units are cut to the same length. The a-e junction is where the count usually collapses, because English fuses adjacent vowels automatically. Pulse them apart until three beats feel natural, then let the join smooth over without losing the timing.

Listen: 前に

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Sound it out

ma An unforced lip closure, then a bright short a.

e A bare front e as its own beat, arriving straight off the a with no glide between them. This is the mora that vanishes in English mouths.

ni A palatalised n — tongue blade flat against the hard palate — with a short tense i.

Hear it in a sentence

寝る前に本を読みます。

Neru mae ni hon o yomimasu.

I read a book before going to bed.

Listen: 寝る前に本を読みます。

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寝る前に本を読みます places 前に after a plain verb, so the whole run 寝る前に is five continuous morae with no pause. English speakers instinctively break before "before"; Japanese binds the phrase together, and the seam between 寝る and 前に should be inaudible.

Where English speakers slip

"MY-nee" is the standard collapse — two morae fused into a diphthong, stress on it, and a stretched final vowel. Say ma, then e, then ni as three separate pulses. The n at the end also tends to come out as a tongue-tip contact; Japanese uses a broad palatal one, which gives the mora its lighter quality.