a/æ/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
How to pronounce animals in American English
A·nuh·muhlz
Start here
Americans pronounce animals as A-nuh-muhlz (/ˈænəməlz/). In "animals", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before M/N, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as A·nuh·muhlz. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Horses are social animals that live in herds" or "She went on a safari in Africa to see the animals" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "animals".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "animals" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats."
hee STUH·deez dhuh buh·HAY·vyer uhv A·nuh·muhlz ihn dhair NA·cher·uhl HA·buh·tats
"Horses are social animals that live in herds."
HOR·suhz er SOH·shuhl A·nuh·muhlz dhuht LIHV ihn HURDZ
"The barn stores hay for the animals to eat during winter."
dhuh BARN STORZ HAY fer dhee A·nuh·muhlz tuh EET DUUR·uhng WIHN·ter
"The seaweed provides food and shelter for many marine animals."
dhuh SEE·weed pruh·VAHYDZ FOOD and SHEHL·ter fer MEH·nee muh·REEN A·nuh·muhlz
"She went on a safari in Africa to see the animals."
shee wehnt ahn uh suh·FAH·ree ihn A·fruh·kuh tuh SEE dhee A·nuh·muhlz
"The zookeeper feeds the animals every morning at dawn."
dhuh ZOO·kee·per FEEDZ dhee A·nuh·muhlz EHV·ree MOR·nuhng uht DAHN
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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 vowel before M/N too pure.
In "animals", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
A-nuh-muhlz→A·nuh·muhlz
02
Treating every L the same.
The L in "animals" 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.
animals→A·nuh·muhlz
03
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "animals", the short unstressed vowel before "m" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "m" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
animals→A·nuh·muhlz
04
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch A — keep everything else short and quick.
a·NUH·MUHLZ→A·nuh·muhlz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "animals" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "A" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "A-nuh-muhlz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "animals" 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 "A-nuh-muhlz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "animals" 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 "A-nuh-muhlz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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