Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "寝る" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 寝る in Japanese?

寝る is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ne.ɾɯ/. It means “to sleep.” ne-ru, two quick beats — a flat "neh" and one tap, with no English r anywhere.

ne-ru, two quick beats — a flat "neh" and one tap, with no English r anywhere.

寝る /ne.ɾɯ/

neru

The pitch drops onto the second beat, but the two are equal in length. Its brevity is deceptive: English speakers hearing such a short word often add length for clarity, which is exactly backwards. Two clipped beats, then stop.

Listen: 寝る

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Sound it out

ne n at the teeth-ridge into a short front e. The English instinct is to slide upward toward "nay"; Japanese keeps the tongue still for the whole vowel.

ru A single strike of the tongue tip. Because the n before it was made in the same region, the tongue barely has to move — which makes it tempting to blur them. Articulate the e clearly to keep the two morae separate.

Hear it in a sentence

今日は早く寝ます。

Kyou wa hayaku nemasu.

I'm going to sleep early today.

Listen: 今日は早く寝ます。

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今日は早く寝ます pairs it with 早く, whose final u devoices before the n of 寝ます — so you get a whispered mora immediately followed by a fully voiced one. 今日 at the head is two morae with a long o (kyo-o), meaning the sentence opens with something held and continues with things that mustn't be.

Where English speakers slip

"NAY-roo" is the usual output: an English diphthong on the e, stress on the first beat, and a rounded rhotic ending. Fix the vowel first — freeze your tongue and jaw so the e can't move — then replace the r with one tap and unround the u. The result should sound almost abrupt.