Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "空" in Japanese?

so-ra, two short beats — a stationary o and a single tongue-tap.

空 /so.ɾa/

sora

Two beats of matching size, with the pitch high on the first and falling onto the second. It's worth pairing with 空港 (kuukou) later on, where the same kanji takes a completely different reading and rhythm.

Listen: 空

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Sound it out

so A short, clean s, then a mid-back o that stays exactly where it starts rather than gliding toward w.

ra The tongue tip touches the ridge once and drops. Quick enough that some English listeners hear a d — and nothing like the lip-rounded English r.

Hear it in a sentence

空に雲がありません。

Sora ni kumo ga arimasen.

There are no clouds in the sky.

Listen: 空に雲がありません。

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空に雲がありません has 雲 (ku-mo) with a flat-lipped u, and ends on ありません — five morae with a tap and a closing nasal. The final ん needs a full beat of hum, which learners routinely clip when a sentence has already run long.

Where English speakers slip

"SO-rah" glides the first vowel, stresses it, and substitutes an English r. Freeze the o so the lips can't move, tap the tongue once, and keep both beats short. Because the word is only two morae, an English r here colours essentially the whole thing.