Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "食べ物" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 食べ物 in Japanese?

食べ物 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ta.be.mo.no/. It means “food.” ta-be-mo-no, four even beats, and the two o's at the end should sound identical.

ta-be-mo-no, four even beats, and the two o's at the end should sound identical.

食べ物 /ta.be.mo.no/

tabemono

Four slots at a single tempo, unaccented so the melody rises after ta and stays flat. The word is a compound of 食べ and 物, but the seam is invisible rhythmically — there's no pause and no shift of emphasis where the two halves meet.

Listen: 食べ物

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Sound it out

ta t against the teeth, released without a puff, then a bright short a.

be A clean b into a short front e that holds one position throughout.

mo Close and release the lips, then a stationary short o.

no Tongue to the ridge for the n, then a second o matching the first exactly. Two identical vowels ending the word is where English reduction usually strikes.

Hear it in a sentence

日本の食べ物はおいしいです。

Nihon no tabemono wa oishii desu.

Japanese food is delicious.

Listen: 日本の食べ物はおいしいです。

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日本の食べ物はおいしいです ends with おいしい, whose final i is held for two beats. Before that, 日本 contributes a moraic nasal. So the sentence has a hum, four flat beats and then a genuine long vowel, all of which need their proper share of time.

Where English speakers slip

"ta-be-MO-no" stresses the third beat and weakens the fourth, and the e frequently drifts toward "bay." Level all four, anchor the e, and match the two o's. Because the word is long, English's urge to organise it with a stress peak is strong — resist and stay flat.