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 chemistry in American English
CHEH·muh·stree
Start here
Americans pronounce chemistry as CHEH-muh-stree (/ˈkɛməstri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He studies biology and chemistry in college" or "The chemistry between the two lead actors was palpable" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "chemistry" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "chemistry".
3 syllables, 8 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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "chemistry" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He studies biology and chemistry in college."
hee STUH·deez bahy·AH·luh·jee and CHEH·muh·stree ihn KAH·luhj
"He synthesized a new compound in the organic chemistry lab."
hee SIHN·thuh·sahyzd uh noo KAHM·pownd ihn dhee or·GA·nuhk CHEH·muh·stree LAB
"The chemistry between the two lead actors was palpable."
dhuh CHEH·muh·stree buh·TWEEN dhuh TOO LEED AK·terz wuhz PAL·puh·buhl
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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch CHEH — keep everything else short and quick.
cheh·MUH·STREE→CHEH·muh·stree
02
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.
CHEH·MUH·stree→CHEH·muh·stree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "chemistry" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "CHEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "CHEH-muh-stree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "chemistry" 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 "CHEH-muh-stree" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "chemistry" 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 "CHEH-muh-stree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "chemistry". 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.