her for Japanese speakers — pronunciation and common errors

Pronunciation

The Japanese phonology lacks the /h/ sound before /ə/ or /ɜː/, often mapping it to the labialized /ɸ/ used in 'fu' /ɸɯ/. This leads to a pronunciation like 'fuu' /ɸɯː/ instead of the English /hə/.

Grammar

Japanese marks grammatical roles with particles rather than case-inflected pronouns, using 彼女 (kanojo) for both subject and object. Consequently, learners often substitute the subject form 'she' for the object form 'her' in sentences like 'I saw she' instead of 'I saw her'.

Examples

• I saw her at the park yesterday.
• The manager asked to speak with her regarding the new project schedule for next month.