Japanese Pronunciation Guide

When pronouncing Japanese words, remember that each syllable is stressed equally when saying multi-syllable words (i.e., kara-te, not kar-ate). All syllables of a word are pronounced with equal emphasis. Also, a word does not change in the plural as it does in English. For example, "bonsai" may mean one bonsai or many bonsai. It would be incorrect to say "bonsais."

Vowels
A = ah, as in ah I = ee, as in we U = oo, as in soon E = eh, as in get O = oh, as in old Y = ee, as in bee AI = eye, as in pie EI = ay, as in say EN = en, as in ten YU = u, as in use

Consonants

Ba "bah" Chi "chee" Da "dah" Fu "foo" Ga "gah" Ha "hah" Ji "jee" Ka "kah" Ma "mah" Na "nah" Pa "pah" R "rt" Sa "sah" Ta "tah" Wa "wah" Ya "yah" Za "zah"

Bi "bee"

Bu "boo"

Be "beh"

Bo "boh"

De "deh"

Do "doh"

Gi "gee" Hi "hee" Ju "ju" Ki "kee" Mi "mee" Ni "nee" Pi "pee" Ra "rtah" Shi "shee" Tsu "tsoo" Wo "oh" Yu "yoo" Zu "zoo"

Gu "goo" He "heh" Ja "jah" Ku "koo" Mu "moo" Nu "noo" Pu "poo" Ri "rtee" Su "soo" Te "teh"

Ge "geh" Ho "hoh"

Go "goh"

Ke "keh" Me "meh" Ne "neh" Pe "peh" Ru "rtoo" Se "seh" To "toh"

Ko "koh" Mo "moh" No "noh" Po "poh" Re "rteh" So "soh" Ro "rtoh"

Yo "yoh" Ze "zeh" Zo "zoh" Zu "zoo" top

Japanese Numbers
There are two counting systems in Japan - This is the most commonly used. Refer to the Pronunciation Guide if needed

ichi (one)

ni (two)

san (three)

shi or yon (four)

go (five)

roku (six)

shichi or hachi (eight) nana (seven)

kuu or kyu (nine)

juu or jyu (ten)

Numbers 11-19 are spoken/written by adding jyu (or juu) plus the one's digit; juu-ichi (eleven), juu-ni (twelve), juu-san (thirteen), etc. With numbers 20 and greater, it's the number in the ten's digit, then "juu", followed by the next number; "Shi" and "shichi" are not used with these numbers - "yon" and "nana" are. nijuu (twenty), sanjuu (thirty), yonjuu (forty - do not say shijuu), nanajuu (seventy) Or if this is easier: Numbers 20-29 are done the same way with the prefix "ni-jyu" added in front of the one's digit; ni jyu (twenty), ni jyu ichi (twenty-one), etc. Numbers 30-39 are done the same way with the prefix "san-jyu" added in front of the one's digit; san jyu ichi (thirty-one), and shi jyu ichi (forty-one), kyu jyu kyu (ninety-nine), etc. There are always exceptions....

hyaku (100)

sanhyaku (300)

yonhyaku (400)

roppyaku (600)

nanahyaku (700)

happyaku sen or issen (800) (1,000)

sanzen (3,000)

yonsen (4,000)

nanasen (7,000)

hassen (8,000)

man or ichiman (10,000)

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