uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce arrests in American English
uh·REHSTS
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Americans pronounce arrests as uh-REHSTS (/əˈrɛsts/). In "arrests", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. This is called the Silent T in Clusters, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as uh·REHSTS. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "arrests".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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 T in a consonant cluster.
In "arrests", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. /t/ is dropped entirely — the surrounding consonants flow together without the T.
arrests→uh·REHSTS
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch REHSTS — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·rehsts→uh·REHSTS
03
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·REHSTS→uh·REHSTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "arrests" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "REHSTS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-REHSTS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "arrests" 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-REHSTS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "arrests" 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-REHSTS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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