air/ɛr/
Start with the 'eh' vowel mouth position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
How to pronounce airport in American English
AIR·port
Start here
Americans pronounce airport as AIR-port (/ˈɛrˌpɔrt/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Do you need a ride to the airport?" or "The flight is delayed at the airport" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "airport".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "airport" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Do you need a ride to the airport?"
doo yuh NEED uh RAHYD tuh dhee AIR·port
"He took a taxi from the airport to the hotel downtown."
hee TUUK uh TAK·see fruhm dhee AIR·port tuh dhuh hoh·TEHL down·TOWN
"The flight is delayed at the airport."
dhuh FLAHYT ihz duh·LAYD uht dhee AIR·port
"The airport shuttle departs every thirty minutes from the terminal."
dhee AIR·port SHUH·duhl duh·PARTS EHV·ree THUR·dee MIH·nuhts fruhm dhuh TUR·muh·nuhl
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "airport", 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.
airport→AIR·PORT
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch AIR — keep everything else short and quick.
air·PORT→AIR·PORT
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "airport" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "AIR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "AIR-port" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "airport"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "airport" 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 "AIR-port" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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