Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "する" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce する in Japanese?

する is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sɯ.ɾɯ/. It means “to do / make.” su-ru, two quick beats — both vowels are the flat, unrounded Japanese u.

su-ru, two quick beats — both vowels are the flat, unrounded Japanese u.

する /sɯ.ɾɯ/

suru

Two slots, and the pitch does the only moving — high on su, low on ru. This is the most-used verb in the language, appearing in hundreds of compound verbs, so an uneven or rounded する propagates its awkwardness everywhere. Get it neutral and short.

Listen: する

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

Sound it out

su The s is ordinary; the u after it is not — keep the lips flat. Because a voiced r follows, this vowel keeps its voice rather than devoicing the way it does in words like すみません.

ru One brief upward contact of the tongue tip and then release, followed by another unrounded u. Two identical vowels in a row, so any difference between them is imported from English.

Hear it in a sentence

週末は何をしますか。

Shuumatsu wa nani o shimasu ka?

What are you doing this weekend?

Listen: 週末は何をしますか。

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

週末は何をしますか uses the polite します, and 週末 in front of it is four morae (shu-u-ma-tsu) with a long first vowel and a tsu affricate at the end. The sentence therefore asks you to hold a vowel, produce a proper tsu, then deliver a completely unemphatic verb — three separate disciplines in one short question.

Where English speakers slip

"SOO-roo" is the giveaway: rounded lips on both vowels and an English r in the middle. Japanese u is made with the lips flat and slightly spread — the difference in timbre is dramatic. Add a single tongue-tap instead of the English approximant and shorten both beats, and the word stops sounding like an English attempt at Japanese.