b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce broke in American English
BROHK
Start here
Americans pronounce broke as BROHK (/broʊk/). You'll hear it in sentences like "My brother broke the new vase" or "The glass broke right after he filled it" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "broke" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "broke".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "broke" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He broke his own personal record in the hundred-meter sprint."
hee BROHK hihz ohn PUR·suh·nuhl REH·kerd ihn dhuh HUHN·druhd MEE·der SPRIHNT
"I broke down large assignments into smaller manageable tasks."
ahy BROHK DOWN LARJ uh·SAHYN·muhnts ihn·too SMAH·ler MA·nuh·juh·buhl TASKS
"My brother broke the new vase."
mahy BRUH·dher BROHK dhuh noo VAYS
"She broke a sweat after only ten minutes on the treadmill."
shee BROHK uh SWEHT AF·ter OHN·lee TEHN MIH·nuhts ahn dhuh TREHD·mihl
"The air conditioner broke down right in the middle of summer."
dhee AIR kuhn·DIH·shuh·ner BROHK DOWN RAHYT ihn dhuh MIH·duhl uhv SUH·mer
"The big blue bus broke down on the bridge."
dhuh BIHG BLOO BUHS BROHK DOWN AHN dhuh BRIHJ
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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "broke", the "k" 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.
broke→BROHK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "broke" 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 "BROHK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "broke". 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.