uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce acquitted in American English
uh·KWIH·tuhd
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Americans pronounce acquitted as uh-KWIH-tuhd (/əˈkwɪɾəd/). In "acquitted", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. So instead of uh·KWIH·tuht, you get uh·KWIH·tuhd. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He was acquitted of the crime due to lack of evidence".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "acquitted".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
t/t/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Don't stop the airflow — just a quick tap.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "acquitted", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
uh-KWIH-tuht→uh·KWIH·tuhd
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch KWIH — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·kwih·TUHD→uh·KWIH·tuhd
03
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
UH·KWIH·tuhd→uh·KWIH·tuhd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "acquitted" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "KWIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-KWIH-tuhd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "acquitted"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "acquitted" sounds closer to "uh-KWIH-tuhd" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the first syllable in "acquitted" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "uh-KWIH-tuhd" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "acquitted" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "uh-KWIH-tuhd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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