Practicing Clear Pronunciation | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 音声を聞いてもいいですか。

   Can I listen to the audio?

   音声

   audio

   聞いてもいいですか

   May I listen?

   More detail

   音声 is a noun meaning “audio” or “voice recording.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies it as the audio to be listened to. The particle を marks 音声 as the object of the action. 聞いてもいいですか is a reusable permission pattern. The verb 聞く means “to listen” here; its て-form is 聞いて. The pattern て-form + もいいですか asks whether doing something is acceptable, so it means “May I ...?” or “Is it okay if I ...?” Example: 音楽を聞いてもいいですか。 — “May I listen to music?” This uses the same permission pattern with a different object. Together, 音声を identifies the audio as the object, and 聞いてもいいですか asks for permission to listen to it. The whole utterance therefore means “Can I listen to the audio?”

2. 一緒に聞きましょう。

   Let's listen together.

   一緒に

   together

   聞きましょう

   let’s listen

   More detail

   一緒に means “together.” It is an adverbial expression used when people do something jointly. For example, 一緒に勉強しましょう。 means “Let’s study together.” 聞きましょう is the polite volitional form of 聞く, “to listen” or “to hear.” Here it expresses a proposal including the speaker: “let’s listen.” The form is built from the verb stem 聞き plus ましょう. Compare 聞きます (“listen/will listen,” polite statement) with 聞きましょう (“let’s listen,” polite proposal). For example, 音楽を聞きましょう。 means “Let’s listen to music.” Together, 一緒に聞きましょう。 means “Let’s listen together.” The sentence proposes that the speaker and the listener listen jointly; 一緒に specifies the shared action, while 聞きましょう makes the inclusive proposal.

3. 私には速すぎます。

   It's too fast for me.

   私には

   for me

   速すぎます

   is too fast

   More detail

   私には means “for me” here. 私 is a first-person form for referring to oneself; Japanese does not mark grammatical number in this form. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the speaker as “me.” The particle に marks the person for whom something is suitable, possible, or experienced, while は makes that person the topic and can add a contrast such as “as for me.” This does not by itself state that the person is receiving an object. Example: 私には難しすぎます。 — “It is too difficult for me.” 速すぎます says that something is excessively fast. 速い is the adjective meaning “fast”; its useful form chain here is 速い → 速すぎる (“be too fast”) → polite 速すぎます. The element すぎる means that the degree goes beyond what is suitable or manageable. The ます ending makes the predicate polite. Example: この音声は速すぎます。 — “This audio is too fast.” Together, 私には identifies the speaker as the person for whom the speed is excessive, and 速すぎます states the resulting judgment: “It is too fast for me.” The Japanese sentence omits what is fast; the exact referent is not named in the sentence, while the listening and playback context supports understanding it as the thing being listened to. The polite ending makes the utterance suitable for a courteous conversation.

4. 再生速度を遅くします。

   I'll slow it down.

   再生速度

   playback speed

   遅くします

   make slower

   More detail

   再生速度 means “playback speed.” It is a noun compound: 再生 is playback, and 速度 is speed. In this utterance, it names the setting being changed. Example: 再生速度を上げます。 — “I’ll increase the playback speed.” 遅くします means “make [it] slower.” The useful base form is the i-adjective 遅い (“slow”). Before する, it changes to its adverbial form 遅く, and 遅くする means “to make something slow” or “to slow something down.” します is the polite nonpast form of する, so here it presents the action as a current intention or decision: “I’ll slow it down.” Example: 音を小さくします。 — “I’ll make the sound quieter.” The particle を marks 再生速度 as what the action affects. Japanese commonly leaves the subject unspoken when it is understood from the situation; the translation supplies “I,” but the Japanese sentence itself does not state that subject explicitly. Together, 再生速度を (“the playback speed,” as the affected setting) and 遅くします (“make slower”) produce: “I’ll slow it down.”

5. この文はどう発音しますか。

   How do I pronounce this sentence?

   この

   this

   文

   sentence

   どう

   how

   発音しますか

   pronounce?

   More detail

   この comes before a noun and means “this” in an attributive phrase: この + noun = “this noun.” It identifies something near the speaker or currently being pointed out in the discourse. Related forms include その (“that, near the listener”) and あの (“that, away from both”), but この itself does not change for number or gender. 文 means “sentence.” It is a noun, and the compound この文 means “this sentence.” Japanese nouns generally do not change form for singular and plural, so 文 can refer to one sentence here without a plural marker. どう is the question word “how.” Placed with a verb, it asks about the manner or way of doing something. For example, どう読みますか。 means “How do you read it?” 発音しますか contains the verb 発音する, “to pronounce,” in its polite nonpast form 発音します, followed by か, which marks a question. The form 発音します is built from the noun-like element 発音 (“pronunciation”) and する (“do”); the whole expression means “pronounce,” rather than merely “do pronunciation” in the English sense. 発音する is the plain form, while 発音します is the polite form. Here, どう specifies what kind of pronunciation is being asked about, and the omitted subject is understood from the fixed translation as the speaker asking about their own pronunciation. Together, この文 (“this sentence”) identifies the object, どう asks about the manner, and 発音しますか forms the polite question. The complete utterance therefore means “How do I pronounce this sentence?”

6. 一度聞いて、私の後に繰り返してください。

   Listen once, then repeat after me.

   一度

   once

   聞いて

   listen

   私の後に

   after me

   繰り返して

   repeat

   ください

   please

   More detail

   一度 means “once” or “one time.” Here it limits the listening action: listen one time. The same word can also mean “once” in other contexts, as in 一度行きました。 — “I went once.” 聞いて is the て-form of 聞く (“to listen” or “to hear”). In this sentence, it is used to connect the first action to what follows: listen, then repeat. The て-form of a verb can also appear in a request pattern, as in 聞いてください。 — “Please listen.” 私の後に means “after me” in the relevant order of speaking. 私 is “I/me,” の links it to 後 (“after” or “behind”), and に marks the point or order after which the action occurs. Here, the translation identifies 私 as the speaker, so the instruction is to repeat after the speaker. For example, 先生の後に言ってください。 means “Please say it after the teacher.” 繰り返して is the て-form of 繰り返す, meaning “to repeat.” The て-form connects this action with ください to make a polite request. For example, この言葉を繰り返してください。 means “Please repeat this word.” ください literally relates to receiving, but after a verb’s て-form it forms the polite request pattern 〜てください, “please do ….” It is not the verb’s tense; the preceding verb supplies the requested action. Thus 繰り返してください means “please repeat.” Together, 一度聞いて gives the first requested action, and 私の後に繰り返してください gives the next action: “repeat after me.” The whole utterance is therefore a polite instruction: “Listen once, then repeat after me.”

7. もう一度やってみます。

   Let me try again.

   もう一度

   once more; again

   やってみます

   will try doing it

   More detail

   もう一度 means “once more” or “again.” もう adds the sense of “again” here, while 一度 means “one time”; together they form a reusable adverbial expression for repeating an action. やってみます is a polite way to say “will try doing it.” The lexical verb is やる (“do”), appearing here as やって, its て-form. This is followed by みます, the polite form of みる (“try” when used after another verb’s て-form). The pattern Vてみる means “try V-ing”: for example, 食べてみます means “I’ll try eating it.” The nonpast polite form みます can describe a present intention or a future action, so the fixed translation naturally uses “Let me try.” Together, もう一度 specifies repetition, and やってみます expresses the speaker’s intention to try performing the action: “Let me try again.”

8. 今はもっとはっきり聞こえます。

   That sounds clearer now.

   今は

   now

   もっと

   more

   はっきり

   clearly

   聞こえます

   sounds audible / can be heard

   More detail

   今は sets the time frame as “now.” 今 means “now,” and は marks it as the topic or reference point: “as for now.” The form は can suggest a contrast with another time, but the sentence itself only explicitly places the situation in the present. もっと means “more” or “to a greater degree.” It modifies the following description, so もっとはっきり means “more clearly.” A useful pattern is もっと + adjective/adverb, as in もっとゆっくり (“more slowly”). はっきり describes something as clear, distinct, or easy to make out. Here it functions adverbially and describes how the sound is perceived: “clearly.” For example, 名前がはっきり聞こえます。 means “The name can be heard clearly.” 聞こえます is the polite nonpast form of 聞こえる. 聞こえる means that a sound is audible or comes across as heard; it is different from 聞く, “to listen” or “to hear” as an intentional action. The polite form chain is 聞こえる → 聞こえます. In this sentence, 聞こえます presents the sound as being audible, not someone intentionally listening to it. Together, 今は (“now”), もっとはっきり (“more clearly”), and 聞こえます (“is audible / can be heard”) produce the fixed meaning: “That sounds clearer now.” The sentence compares the present clarity with an earlier state, while 聞こえます describes how the sound is coming across.