Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "パスポート" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce パスポート in Japanese?

パスポート is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pa.sɯ̥.poː.to/. It means “passport.” pa-su-po-o-to, five beats — a whispered su and a long o in the middle.

pa-su-po-o-to, five beats — a whispered su and a long o in the middle.

パスポート /pa.sɯ̥.poː.to/

pasupooto

Five beats for a word English delivers in three syllables. Two of the extra beats come from inserted vowels and one from the lengthened o, which makes the loanword substantially longer than its source despite meaning exactly the same thing.

Listen: パスポート

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Sound it out

pa A p released without the strong puff English gives it, then a bright short a.

su An inserted vowel that Japanese needs to break up the "sp" cluster. Caught between voiceless sounds, it devoices, so the beat is essentially a hiss.

poo The same soft p, now opening onto an o held for two full counts. The katakana ー carries that length.

to A quiet dental t and a short o — another inserted vowel, since Japanese cannot end a word in t.

Hear it in a sentence

パスポートを忘れないでください。

Pasupooto o wasurenaide kudasai.

Please don’t forget your passport.

Listen: パスポートを忘れないでください。

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パスポートを忘れないでください ends with 忘れないで, where な and い are separate morae rather than the English "nye." So after the loanword's five beats, the sentence asks for another vowel junction and then four more morae in ください.

Where English speakers slip

Saying English "passport" with a Japanese accent gives three beats and keeps the final t as a consonant. Every inserted vowel is a full mora — including the whispered su — and the middle o runs for two counts. Keep both u and o unrounded and unstressed respectively.