Hear how Japanese words are paced in morae, short timing units that are not always written as separate full-size kana.

The idea

Polish stress commonly falls on the penultimate syllable, with exceptions. Japanese mora counting instead includes vowel length and other timing units; pitch accent is separate. Timing varies in natural speech; the tapping exercise is a guide, not a metronome. A basic kana often takes one mora. Small っ, ん and a long vowel each add one; a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ combines with the preceding kana. Thus きゃく has two morae and きって has three.

Patterns to compare
WordMorae
きゃくきゃ・く
きってき・っ・て
にほんに・ほ・ん
がっこうが・っ・こ・う
コーヒーコ・ー・ヒ・ー

Examples

  • おばさんと公園こうえんで話はなします。I talk with my aunt in the park.
  • おばあさんと公園こうえんで話はなします。I talk with my grandmother in the park.
  • 切手きってを二枚にまい買かいます。I buy two postage stamps.
  • ここに来きてください。Please come here.
  • 父ちちはコーヒーを飲のみます。My father drinks coffee.
  • 今日きょう、客きゃくが来きます。A guest is coming today.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Morae are timing units, not stressed beats of equal mechanical duration. Do not give small ゃ an extra beat or skip the small っ.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the word with 3 morae: （きって／きて）

    Show answer or example answer

    きって

    きって has three morae: き・っ・て; the small っ takes time.

  2. Choose the word with 4 morae: （コーヒー／コヒー）

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    コーヒー

    コーヒー has four morae: コ・ー・ヒ・ー; both long vowels count.

  3. Choose the word with 2 morae: （きゃく／きやく）

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    きゃく

    きゃく has two morae: きゃ・く; the small ゃ belongs with き.

Use it today

Tap a steady pulse for きゃく, きって and コーヒー, then say the words naturally.