uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce affects in American English
uh·FEHKTS
Start here
Americans pronounce affects as uh-FEHKTS (/əˈfɛkts/). In "affects", 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, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as uh·FEHKTS. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Pollution in the river affects the local fish population".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "affects" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "affects".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 "affects", 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.
affects→uh·FEHKTS
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "affects", 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.
affects→uh·FEHKTS
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch FEHKTS — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·fehkts→uh·FEHKTS
04
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·FEHKTS→uh·FEHKTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "affects" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "FEHKTS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-FEHKTS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "affects" 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-FEHKTS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "affects" 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-FEHKTS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "affects". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.