三分 (3 minutes) pronunciation is sanpun or sampun?


My question is **_not_** whether the reading of 三分 (3 minutes) is さんぷん.

I've learned that if ん is followed by an m, p or b sound - then ん is
pronounced as m.

However, I always hear sanpun and not sampun when listening.

Am I just not able to distinct the two sounds?

Should it be pronounced sanpun or sampun?




Sometimes foreign speakers can hear the difference native Japanese speakers
don't really care about. I have seen speakers of other languages are confused
because, to them, Japanese people are pronouncing が and ぜ in different ways.
However, this is something ordinary Japanese speakers are not even aware of.

  * [Why doesn't Japanese have a special Katakana form for “hu”?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16272/5010)
  * [Why do Japanese speakers have difficulty pronouncing “L”?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/9333/5010)
  * [Confusion with pronounciation in some words: 'm' and 'n' sounds when there is 'g'](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/54535/5010)
  * ["z" sound, which to choose?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/68584/5010)

Interestingly, people often unconsciously pronounce one sound in two or more
ways, believing it's the exact same sound ( _allophone_ ). See the "spin vs
pin" example in the first link above.

I am a native Japanese speaker, but my ears probably cannot tell the
difference between "sampun" and "sanpun" pronounced by you. It's just the same
sound, ん, to my ears. So my advice here is "Don't worry". If you care, it may
be safe to follow the [basic
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/15625/5010), but I don't know how
strictly native Japanese speakers are following this rule (again, I cannot
hear the difference). You may want to have your pronunciation checked by a
native speaker.

To take another example, Korean people say they are generally bad at
distinguishing き and ぎ in Japanese. This was confusing to me because, to my
ears, they were distinguishing き and ぎ under some rule when they speak their
native language, Korean.




Sometimes foreign speakers can hear the difference native Japanese speakers
don't really care about. I have seen speakers of other languages are confused
because, to them, Japanese people are pronouncing が and ぜ in different ways.
However, this is something ordinary Japanese speakers are not even aware of.

  * [Why doesn't Japanese have a special Katakana form for “hu”?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16272/5010)
  * [Why do Japanese speakers have difficulty pronouncing “L”?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/9333/5010)
  * [Confusion with pronounciation in some words: 'm' and 'n' sounds when there is 'g'](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/54535/5010)
  * ["z" sound, which to choose?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/68584/5010)

Interestingly, people often unconsciously pronounce one sound in two or more
ways, believing it's the exact same sound ( _allophone_ ). See the "spin vs
pin" example in the first link above.

I am a native Japanese speaker, but my ears probably cannot tell the
difference between "sampun" and "sanpun" pronounced by you. It's just the same
sound, ん, to my ears. So my advice here is "Don't worry". If you care, it may
be safe to follow the [basic
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/15625/5010), but I don't know how
strictly native Japanese speakers are following this rule (again, I cannot
hear the difference). You may want to have your pronunciation checked by a
native speaker.

To take another example, Korean people say they are generally bad at
distinguishing き and ぎ in Japanese. This was confusing to me because, to my
ears, they were distinguishing き and ぎ under some rule when they speak their
native language, Korean.

