LingoDrop
Japanese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "ため" in Japanese?
ta-me, two short beats — the e is flat, so it's "meh," never "may."
tame
There's no peak to look for in this word: both beats are the same size, and the contour steps up and stays there. Because this word almost always appears inside a longer phrase — 〜のために — its evenness matters less on its own than in context, where any swelling on ta or me disrupts a longer rhythmic run.
Listen: ため
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
友達のためにケーキを作りました。
Tomodachi no tame ni keeki o tsukurimashita.
I made a cake for my friend.
Listen: 友達のためにケーキを作りました。
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友達のためにケーキを作りました embeds the word in its usual frame, のために, five continuous morae with no internal pause. The sentence also has ケーキ (ke-e-ki), a loanword with a long first vowel — English "cake" is one syllable, Japanese ケーキ is three morae. It's a striking example of how borrowing reshapes a word's rhythm.
Where English speakers slip
"TAH-may" is the standard mispronunciation: a stressed first syllable and an English "ay" diphthong on the second. Both vowels are short and pure here, and neither beat outweighs the other. Because the word usually sits inside のために, an English stress peak on it also disrupts the surrounding particles, so the error is more audible than the word's small size suggests.