uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce addressing in American English
uh·DREH·suhng
Start here
Americans pronounce addressing as uh-DREH-suhng (/əˈdrɛsɪŋ/). In "addressing", the "dr" cluster blends into a "jr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. This is called the DR Sounds Like JR, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as uh·DREH·suhng. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "International cooperation is essential for addressing global challenges" or "Global partnerships are essential for addressing climate change effectively" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "addressing".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
d/d/
PalatalizedTongue pulls back slightly from the D position, blending into R. Sounds close to 'jr'.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "addressing" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Global partnerships are essential for addressing climate change effectively."
GLOH·buhl PART·ner·shihps er uh·SEHN·shuhl fer uh·DREH·suhng KLAHY·muht CHAYNJ uh·FEHK·tuhv·lee
"International cooperation is essential for addressing global challenges."
ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn ihz uh·SEHN·shuhl fer uh·DREH·suhng GLOH·buhl CHA·luhn·juhz
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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 clean "dr" instead of a "j" sound.
In "addressing", the "dr" cluster blends into a "jr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /d/ shifts toward /dʒ/ ("j"), so DR sounds like "jr".
uh-DREH-suhng→uh·DREH·suhng
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch DREH — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·dreh·SUHNG→uh·DREH·suhng
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·DREH·suhng→uh·DREH·suhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "addressing" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "DREH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-DREH-suhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "addressing" 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-DREH-suhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "addressing" 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-DREH-suhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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