How to pronounce breath in American English

IPA /brɛθ/ Syllables 1 · brehth Stress 1st syllable

BREHTH

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Americans pronounce breath as BREHTH (/brɛθ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I ran until I was completely out of breath".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "breath".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

b/b/

Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

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.

th/θ/

Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.

In real conversation

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"I ran until I was completely out of breath."

ahy RAN uhn·TIHL ahy wuhz kuhm·PLEET·lee OWT uhv BREHTH

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Questions

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