uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce attention in American English
uh·TEHN·shn
Start here
Americans pronounce attention as uh-TEHN-shn (/əˈtɛnʃn/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She put her full attention into her schoolwork" or "Thank you for your time and attention during this presentation" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "attention".
3 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
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.
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.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
In real conversation
Hear "attention" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I want to draw your attention to the competitive advantages we offer."
ahy WAHNT tuh DRAH yor uh·TEHN·shn tuh dhuh kuhm·PEH·tuh·tihv uhd·VAN·duh·juhz wee AH·fer
"I wanted to bring to your attention an issue that requires resolution."
ahy WAHN·tuhd tuh BRIHNG tuh yer uh·TEHN·shn uhn IH·shoo dhuht ruh·KWAHYRZ reh·zuh·LOO·shuhn
"She put her full attention into her schoolwork."
shee PUUT her FUUL uh·TEHN·shn IHN·too her SKOOL·wurk
"Thank you for your time and attention during this presentation."
THANGK yoo fer yor TAHYM and uh·TEHN·shn DUUR·uhng dhihs preh·zuhn·TAY·shuhn
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch TEHN — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·tehn·SHN→uh·TEHN·shn
02
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·TEHN·shn→uh·TEHN·shn
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "attention" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TEHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-TEHN-shn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "attention" 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-TEHN-shn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "attention" 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-TEHN-shn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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