ch/tʃ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'sh' position. Flare your lips.
How to pronounce checkpoint in American English
CHEHK·poynt
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Americans pronounce checkpoint as CHEHK-poynt (/ˈtʃɛkˌpɔɪnt/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint on his way home".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "checkpoint".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
oy/ɔɪ/
Start with rounded lips and tongue shifted back. Glide to relaxed lips with the tongue arching forward and up.
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.
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.
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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 "checkpoint", the "t" 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.
checkpoint→CHEHK·POYNT
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch CHEHK — keep everything else short and quick.
chehk·POYNT→CHEHK·POYNT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "checkpoint" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "CHEHK" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "CHEHK-poynt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "checkpoint" 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 "CHEHK-poynt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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