k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce candidates in American English
KAN·duh·dayts
Start here
Americans pronounce candidates as KAN-duh-dayts (/ˈkændədeɪts/). In "candidates", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. So instead of KAN·tuh·tayts, you get KAN·duh·dayts. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "A massive gap in candidates was apparent" or "Public opinion polls suggest a close race between the candidates" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "candidates".
3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "candidates" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "candidates", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
KAN-tuh-tayts→KAN·duh·dayts
02
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "candidates", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
KAN-duh-dayts→KAN·duh·dayts
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KAN — keep everything else short and quick.
kan·DUH·DAYTS→KAN·duh·dayts
04
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
KAN·DUH·dayts→KAN·duh·dayts
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "candidates" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KAN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KAN-duh-dayts" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "candidates"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "candidates" sounds closer to "KAN-duh-dayts" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the second syllable in "candidates" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "KAN-duh-dayts" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "candidates" 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 "KAN-duh-dayts" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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