LingoDrop
Japanese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "もう" in Japanese?
A single "mo" held for two full beats — the u in the romaji is a length mark, not a vowel.
mou
One syllable, two counts. Everything about this word is duration: there's no consonant cluster, no nasal, nothing else to measure. Say it too briefly and it stops registering as a word at all — hold it until the length feels slightly excessive and you're probably about right.
Listen: もう
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
もう食べました。
Mou tabemashita.
I've already eaten.
Listen: もう食べました。
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もう食べました follows the long vowel with 食べました, five short beats in a row. That contrast is the whole point of the sentence: one held sound and then five quick ones at a constant tempo. If they all come out the same length, the もう has been clipped.
Where English speakers slip
"moh" in one beat is the reflex, because English treats vowel length as expressive rather than lexical. It's lexical here. Freeze the lips so the o doesn't glide toward w — English "mow" moves, this doesn't — and hold it for a genuine double count before the next word starts.