Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "探す" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 探す in Japanese?

探す is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sa.ɡa.sɯ̥/. It means “to look for.” sa-ga-su, three beats with two identical a's, and the final u whispers away.

sa-ga-su, three beats with two identical a's, and the final u whispers away.

探す /sa.ɡa.sɯ̥/

sagasu

The peak lands on ga; the three slots are measured the same. The two a vowels bracketing the middle make this a good self-check: they should be indistinguishable in length and quality, whereas English would reduce one of them toward a schwa.

Listen: 探す

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

sa Plain s opening onto a bright short a, delivered without any lengthening despite starting the word.

ga A hard g into an a of exactly the same quality as the first. Many Tokyo speakers nasalise this consonant mid-word, giving something closer to "nga" — optional, but very natural-sounding.

su The s again, now with an unrounded u that goes voiceless at the end of the word. The verb finishes on a hiss rather than a vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

レストランを探しています。

Resutoran o sagashite imasu.

I'm looking for a restaurant.

Listen: レストランを探しています。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

レストランを探しています uses 探して and includes レストラン, six morae (re-su-to-ra-n) with a tap at the start, a devoicing-prone su, another tap, and a moraic nasal at the end. English "restaurant" is three syllables; the Japanese loan is twice as long, and every one of those beats has to be there.

Where English speakers slip

"sa-GAH-soo" is the usual output — stressed middle, rounded final vowel. Match the two a's exactly, keep the emphasis level, and let the closing u devoice with the lips spread. If you can hear a distinct "soo" at the end, you're voicing a vowel that native speakers mostly don't.