How to pronounce bench in American English

IPA /bɛntʃ/ Syllables 1 · behnch Stress 1st syllable

BEHNCH

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Americans pronounce bench as BEHNCH (/bɛntʃ/).

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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72% Noticeable accent

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"He waived his right to a jury trial and chose a bench trial."

hee WAYVD hihz RAHYT tuh uh JUR·ee TRAHY·uhl and CHOHZ uh BEHNCH TRAHY·uhl

Questions

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Is the American pronunciation of "bench" 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 "BEHNCH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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