b/b/
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How to pronounce brother in American English
BRUH·dher
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Americans pronounce brother as BRUH-dher (/ˈbrʌðər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "This is my brother" or "My mother and brother" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "brother".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then 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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "brother" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Brother, wonder over yonder by the river."
BRUH·dher WUHN·der OH·ver YAHN·der bahy dhuh RIH·ver
"Her brother drives a bright red car."
her BRUH·dher DRAHYVZ uh BRAHYT REHD KAR
"Her brother drives a dark green car."
her BRUH·dher DRAHYVZ uh DARK GREEN KAR
"His brother is in the same class as me."
hihz BRUH·dher ihz ihn dhuh SAYM KLAS uhz mee
"My brother broke the new vase."
mahy BRUH·dher BROHK dhuh noo VAYS
"My brother has three thick books about the weather."
mahy BRUH·dher huhz THREE THIHK BUUKS uh·BOWT dhuh WEH·dher
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch BRUH — keep everything else short and quick.
bruh·DHER→BRUH·dher
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 is "brother" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "BRUH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "BRUH-dher" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "brother"?
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 "brother" 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 "BRUH-dher" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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