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I have started learning Japanese a couple of days ago. One of the new expressions I have just encountered is "けっこうです". In this case, is the "っ" not pronounced at all? And if it really isn't, could anyone explain to me why っ is included in the middle of the expression?

Thanks in advance, FS

F Severgnini
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1 Answers1

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The small tsu character, っ is used to indicate a double consonant. So, for example:

にっぽん (nippon) - Japan

けっこう (kekkou) - fine

さっか (sakka) - author

The last one you can compare to さか (saka), or hill. Saying sakka takes about 30-50% longer than saying saka, because the double consonant takes a certain amount of time to pronounce (you almost take a break during the double consonant, like you're saying "sak-ka").

ConMan
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