Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "三" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 三 in Japanese?

三 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /saɴ/. It means “three.” sa-n, two beats — the n is not a consonant tacked onto "san" but a full beat of humming on its own.

sa-n, two beats — the n is not a consonant tacked onto "san" but a full beat of humming on its own.

三 /saɴ/

san

Two morae, and the second one has no vowel at all — which is the single hardest concept for English ears in this word. English hears one syllable and gives it one beat. Japanese hears two units and gives them two. Say "sa" and then hum for exactly as long again.

Listen: 三

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Sound it out

sa A clean s, then an open bright a. Short — this is one beat, not the drawn-out "sahn" of the English loan "-san" in names.

n The moraic nasal, taking a full count by itself. Before a pause it's realised far back in the mouth, more like the ng of "song" than a tongue-tip n. Hum it deliberately; don't just close off the previous vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

今三時です。

Ima san-ji desu.

It's three o'clock now.

Listen: 今三時です。

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今三時です compresses three short items in a row: 今 (i-ma), 三時 (sa-n-ji, three morae), です. The ん in 三時 sits before a j, so it assimilates toward that place of articulation rather than staying velar — you hear it as a nasal glide into the ji rather than a distinct ng. It still takes its full beat.

Where English speakers slip

"SAHN" — one long stressed syllable — is the standard English import, and it gets the duration roughly right by accident while getting the structure wrong. The problem shows up as soon as you count fast: an English "sahn" can't be split, so ichi-ni-san comes out with the wrong rhythm. Train it as two units, sa + n, and the counting sequence self-corrects.