Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "飲む" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 飲む in Japanese?

飲む is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /no.mɯ/. It means “to drink.” no-mu, two short beats, both vowels pure and the lips flat for the u.

no-mu, two short beats, both vowels pure and the lips flat for the u.

飲む /no.mɯ/

nomu

Both slots are the same size, high then low. Both consonants are nasal-adjacent and both vowels are back vowels, so the word has a dark, compact sound that English speakers tend to stretch out. Keep it tight: the whole thing lasts about as long as the English word "nome."

Listen: 飲む

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Sound it out

no The n is formed at the ridge, then a mid-back o with no closing movement. English "know" glides; this stops where it starts.

mu Close for the m, then open to the unrounded u. The natural instinct after a lip closure is to keep the lips rounded — spread them instead, which gives the vowel its Japanese timbre.

Hear it in a sentence

毎日水を飲みます。

Mainichi mizu o nomimasu.

I drink water every day.

Listen: 毎日水を飲みます。

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毎日水を飲みます opens with 毎日 (ma-i-ni-chi), four morae where the a and i must stay separate rather than becoming "my." Then 水 gives mi-zu with its unrounded u, and 飲みます ends on another. Three unrounded u vowels in one short sentence is good practice for keeping the lips out of the way.

Where English speakers slip

"NO-moo" is the standard result: an English diphthong on the o, rounded lips on the u, and stress on the first beat. The rounding is the most audible problem — English "moo" and Japanese む are different vowels entirely. Spread the lips, freeze the o, and keep both beats short and equal.