uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce adjustment in American English
uh·JUHST·muhnt
Start here
Americans pronounce adjustment as uh-JUHST-muhnt (/əˈdʒʌstmənt/). In "adjustment", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. This is called the Silent T in Clusters, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as uh·JUHST·muhnt. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The rude dude made a crude mood adjustment".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "adjustment".
3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
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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
Pronouncing the T in a consonant cluster.
In "adjustment", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. /t/ is dropped entirely — the surrounding consonants flow together without the T.
adjustment→uh·JUHST·muhnt
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "adjustment", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
adjustment→uh·JUHST·muhnt
03
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "adjustment", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
adjustment→uh·JUHST·muhnt
04
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch JUHST — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·juhst·MUHNT→uh·JUHST·muhnt
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "adjustment" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "JUHST" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-JUHST-muhnt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "adjustment" 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-JUHST-muhnt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "adjustment" 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-JUHST-muhnt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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