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 although in American English
ahl·DHOH
Start here
Americans pronounce although as ahl-DHOH (/ɔlˈðoʊ/). The L in "although" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as ahl·DHOH. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Although it's difficult, it's worth doing" or "Although the traffic was bad, we arrived on time" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "although" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "although".
2 syllables, 4 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.
dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
In real conversation
Hear "although" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Although it's difficult, it's worth doing."
ahl·DHOH ihts DIH·fuh·kuhlt ihts WURTH DOO·uhng
"Although the traffic was bad, we arrived on time."
ahl·DHOH dhuh TRA·fuhk wuhz BAD wee uh·RAHYVD ahn TAHYM
"Although they are brothers, they loathe each other."
ahl·DHOH dhay er BRUH·dherz dhay LOHDH EECH UH·dher
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "although" 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.
although→ahl·DHOH
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch DHOH — keep everything else short and quick.
AHL·dhoh→ahl·DHOH
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "although" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "DHOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ahl-DHOH" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "although" 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-DHOH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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