a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
How to pronounce astrophysics in American English
as·troh·FIH·zuhks
Start here
Americans pronounce astrophysics as as-troh-FIH-zuhks (/ˌæstroʊˈfɪzɪks/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She studied astrophysics to understand the laws of the universe".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "astrophysics".
4 syllables, 11 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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/
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.
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.
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.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch FIH — keep everything else short and quick.
AS·TROH·fih·ZUHKS→AS·troh·FIH·zuhks
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the third syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
as·troh·FIH·ZUHKS→AS·troh·FIH·zuhks
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "astrophysics" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "FIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "as-troh-FIH-zuhks" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the fourth syllable in "astrophysics" 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 "as-troh-FIH-zuhks" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "astrophysics" 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 "as-troh-FIH-zuhks" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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