uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce away in American English
uh·WAY
Start here
Americans pronounce away as uh-WAY (/əˈweɪ/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Up and away" or "Why walk away?" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "away" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "away".
2 syllables, 3 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "away" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Do not walk away from your work in this difficult world."
doo NAHT WAHK uh·WAY fruhm yor WURK ihn dhihs DIH·fuh·kuhlt WURLD
"He struggled with homesickness during his first semester away."
hee STRUH·guhld wihth HOHM·sihk·nuhs DUUR·uhng hihz FURST suh·MEH·ster uh·WAY
"I really miss you when you're away."
ahy RIH·lee MIHS yuh wehn yer uh·WAY
"Please throw away the trash when you leave."
PLEEZ THROH uh·WAY dhuh TRASH wehn yuh LEEV
"She spotted a potential safety hazard and flagged it right away."
shee SPAH·duhd uh puh·TEHN·shuhl SAYF·tee HA·zerd and FLAGD iht RAHYT uh·WAY
"She travelled to another city to support the away team."
shee TRA·vuhld tuh uh·NUH·dher SIH·dee tuh suh·PORT dhee uh·WAY TEEM
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 WAY — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·way→uh·WAY
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·WAY→uh·WAY
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "away" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "WAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-WAY" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "away" 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-WAY" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "away" 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-WAY" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "away". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.