Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "週" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 週 in Japanese?

週 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕɯː/. It means “week.” shuu — one syllable, two beats, with the u held long and the lips completely unrounded.

shuu — one syllable, two beats, with the u held long and the lips completely unrounded.

週 /ɕɯː/

shuu

Two counts inside one syllable, a shape English doesn't have. Since the word almost always appears in compounds — 今週, 来週, 週末 — that length has to survive being absorbed into a longer word, which is where beginners most often lose it.

Listen: 週

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Sound it out

shu A palatal hiss combined with the u in a single mora. Thinner than English "shoe," and crucially the lips do not round — they stay flat and slightly spread.

u (length) The doubled u in romaji marks duration. Hold the same vowel for a second full beat without changing the mouth position or rearticulating.

Hear it in a sentence

今週はとても忙しいです。

Konshuu wa totemo isogashii desu.

This week is very busy.

Listen: 今週はとても忙しいです。

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

今週はとても忙しいです uses the compound 今週 (ko-n-shu-u), four morae with a nasal beat and then the long vowel. So two of that word's four beats are things English wouldn't count at all, and delivering only two of the four is the standard beginner outcome.

Where English speakers slip

"shoo" — one beat, lips pushed forward — is the English default, and it's wrong on both counts. Spread the lips so the vowel loses its "oo" quality, then hold it for two full counts. The hiss should also be lighter than English sh; Japanese pushes much less air through it.