How to pronounce announcement in American English

IPA /əˈnaʊnsmənt/ Syllables 3 · uh·nown·smuhnt Stress 2nd syllable

uh·NOWN·smuhnt

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Americans pronounce announcement as uh-NOWN-smuhnt (/əˈnaʊnsmənt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "This is an important announcement".

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "announcement", 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.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "announcement", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "announcement".

3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

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.

ow/aʊ/

Start with a dropped jaw and flat tongue. Glide into a relaxed, slightly rounded lip position as the back of the tongue stretches up.

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.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

n/n/

Syllabic

The schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.

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 "announcement" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"This is an important announcement."

dhihs ihz uhn uhm·POR·tuhnt uh·NOWN·smuhnt

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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.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "announcement", 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.

announcement→uh·NOWN·smuhnt

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

announcement→uh·NOWN·smuhnt

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch NOWN — keep everything else short and quick.

UH·nown·SMUHNT→uh·NOWN·smuhnt

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·NOWN·smuhnt→uh·NOWN·smuhnt

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "announcement" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the second syllable — say "NOWN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-NOWN-smuhnt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the first syllable in "announcement" 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-NOWN-smuhnt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

Is the American pronunciation of "announcement" 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-NOWN-smuhnt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Every sound in "announcement".

Hear "announcement" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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