ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
How to pronounce already in American English
ahl·REH·dee
Start here
Americans pronounce already as ahl-REH-dee (/ɑlˈrɛdi/). In "already", 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 ahl·REH·tee, you get ahl·REH·dee. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Are the kids asleep already?" or "I bet you already know the answer" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "already".
3 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
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.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "already" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Are the kids asleep already?"
ar dhuh KIHDZ uh·SLEEP ahl·REH·dee
"Can you believe how quickly this year has gone by already?"
kan yoo buh·LEEV HOW KWIH·klee dhihs YEER huhz GAHN bahy ahl·REH·dee
"I bet you already know the answer."
ahy BEHT yoo ahl·REH·dee NOH dhee AN·ser
"I would love to join you but I already have other plans."
ahy wuud LUHV tuh JOYN yoo buht ahy ahl·REH·dee HAV UH·dher PLANZ
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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 "already", 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.
ahl-REH-tee→ahl·REH·dee
02
Treating every L the same.
The L in "already" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
already→ahl·REH·dee
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch REH — keep everything else short and quick.
AHL·reh·DEE→ahl·REH·dee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "already" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "REH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ahl-REH-dee" 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 "already"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "already" sounds closer to "ahl-REH-dee" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Is the American pronunciation of "already" 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 "ahl-REH-dee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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