b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce behind in American English
buh·HAHYND
Start here
Americans pronounce behind as buh-HAHYND (/bəˈhaɪnd/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Hide behind the house" or "It's a fact that we're behind schedule" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "behind".
2 syllables, 6 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.
h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "behind" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Behind the hill, the hunter heard a horn."
buh·HAHYND dhuh HIHL dhuh HUHN·ter HURD uh HORN
"I have mixed emotions about leaving my hometown behind."
ahy hav MIHKST uh·MOH·shuhnz uh·BOWT LEE·vuhng mahy HOHM·town buh·HAHYND
"I hope we can put this behind us and move forward together."
ahy HOHP wee kuhn PUUT dhihs buh·HAHYND uhs and MOOV FOR·werd tuh·GEH·dher
"I parked the car just behind that truck."
ahy PARKT dhuh KAR juhst buh·HAHYND DHAT TRUHK
"We are running behind schedule, so let's prioritize the urgent items."
wee er RUH·nuhng buh·HAHYND SKEH·jool SOH LEHTS prahy·OR·uh·tahyz dhee UR·juhnt AHY·duhmz
"He hid the heavy hammer behind the hedge."
hee HIHD dhuh HEH·vee HA·mer buh·HAHYND dhuh HEHJ
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "behind", the "d" 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.
behind→buh·HAHYND
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch HAHYND — keep everything else short and quick.
BUH·hahynd→buh·HAHYND
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.
BUH·HAHYND→buh·HAHYND
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "behind" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "HAHYND" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "buh-HAHYND" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "behind" 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 "buh-HAHYND" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "behind" 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 "buh-HAHYND" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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