Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "仕事" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 仕事 in Japanese?

仕事 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕi.ɡo.to/. It means “work / job.” shi-go-to, three even beats — a thin hiss and two matching o's.

shi-go-to, three even beats — a thin hiss and two matching o's.

仕事 /ɕi.ɡo.to/

shigoto

One tempo throughout, and standard speech leaves the word unaccented, so the pitch steps up after shi and holds level. Two identical o's in the second and third beats make any English-style weakening of the final syllable immediately audible.

Listen: 仕事

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Sound it out

shi A palatal hiss made with the tongue blade, lighter than English sh, with a short tense i. Because a voiced g follows, this vowel keeps its voice.

go Hard g, then a stationary short o, often nasalised toward "ngo" by Tokyo speakers in this word-medial position.

to Place the tongue on the teeth for the t, then an o matching the previous one exactly.

Hear it in a sentence

新しい仕事を始めました。

Atarashii shigoto o hajimemashita.

I started a new job.

Listen: 新しい仕事を始めました。

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新しい仕事を始めました opens with 新しい, five morae ending on a long i, and closes with 始めました, six even short beats. 仕事's three beats sit between them, and the sentence works as a tempo test: fourteen morae with only one held vowel in the whole line.

Where English speakers slip

"shi-GO-to" stresses the middle beat, glides its vowel, and weakens the last one. Freeze both o's so the lips don't move, level the emphasis, and keep the opening i short. The sh should also be gentler than English — less air, more forward placement.