Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ズボン" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce ズボン in Japanese?

ズボン is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dzɯ.boɴ/. It means “pants / trousers.” zu-bo-n, three beats — a buzzed opening, an unrounded u, and a closing hum.

zu-bo-n, three beats — a buzzed opening, an unrounded u, and a closing hum.

ズボン /dzɯ.boɴ/

zubon

Three beats, one of them vowel-less. The word came into Japanese from French rather than English, which is why it looks unfamiliar — but its rhythm follows the ordinary Japanese pattern, with the moraic nasal taking a full count.

Listen: ズボン

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

Sound it out

zu Word-initially this is a voiced affricate closer to "dz" than to a plain z, with the unrounded u after it — lips flat, not pursed.

bo A plain b opening onto a stationary short o that doesn't glide toward w.

n A whole beat of nasal to close, made far back with the mouth open.

Hear it in a sentence

このズボンは楽です。

Kono zubon wa raku desu.

These pants are comfortable.

Listen: このズボンは楽です。

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

このズボンは楽です ends with 楽 (ra-ku), whose final u devoices before です, and then the copula devoices again. So the sentence finishes on two whispered vowels in a row, after opening with a clearly buzzed one.

Where English speakers slip

"ZOO-bon" rounds the opening vowel, stresses it, and reduces the nasal to a closing consonant. Spread the lips, keep all three beats even, and hum the ん for its own count. The initial consonant should also be a genuine "dz" rather than a soft English z.