b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce board in American English
BORD
Start here
Americans pronounce board as BORD (/bɔrd/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The parole board denied his request for early release" or "We play board games with the family every Friday night" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "board".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
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 "board" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Emergency contact numbers are posted on the bulletin board near the exit."
uh·MUR·juhn·see KAHN·takt NUHM·berz er POH·stuhd ahn dhuh BUU·luh·tuhn BORD NEER dhee EHG·zuht
"The parole board denied his request for early release."
dhuh puh·ROHL BORD duh·NAHYD hihz ruh·KWEHST fer UR·lee ruh·LEES
"We play board games with the family every Friday night."
wee PLAY BORD GAYMZ wihth dhuh FAM·lee EHV·ree FRAHY·day NAHYT
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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 "board", 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.
board→BORD
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "board"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "board" 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 "BORD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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