Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "何も" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 何も in Japanese?

何も is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /na.ɲi.mo/. It means “nothing (used with a negative).” na-ni-mo, three even beats, with a palatalised middle n and the particle joined on directly.

na-ni-mo, three even beats, with a palatalised middle n and the particle joined on directly.

何も /na.ɲi.mo/

nanimo

Three slots run together as one rhythmic unit. Like 誰も, this word only works with a following negative, and the two form a single melodic phrase — so there is no pause before the も and no independent stress on it.

Listen: 何も

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Sound it out

na An n against the ridge behind the upper teeth, then a bright short a.

ni The tongue blade lies flat against the hard palate here, giving a ñ-like quality quite unlike the na before it, with a short tense i.

mo The particle attached without a break. Lips close, then a stationary mid-back o that doesn't glide.

Hear it in a sentence

何もほしくありません。

Nanimo hoshiku arimasen.

I don't want anything.

Listen: 何もほしくありません。

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何もほしくありません ends with ありません, five morae finishing on a moraic ん, and ほしく before it has a ku that devoices before the a. The sentence is long, and the temptation is to accelerate — but the closing nasal still needs its own full beat.

Where English speakers slip

"NAH-nee-mo" stretches the first two vowels and puts English stress on the front. Keep all three short and equal, palatalise the middle n, and attach the も without a gap. Learners also tend to raise their pitch on も for emphasis, which Japanese achieves through the negative verb instead.