s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce circles in American English
SUR·kuhlz
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Americans pronounce circles as SUR-kuhlz (/ˈsɜrkəlz/). The L in "circles" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as SUR·kuhlz. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Thirty thirsty turtles turned in circles".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "circles".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "circles" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
circles→SUR·kuhlz
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SUR — keep everything else short and quick.
sur·KUHLZ→SUR·kuhlz
03
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.
SUR·KUHLZ→SUR·kuhlz
04
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 "circles" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SUR-kuhlz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "circles" 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 "SUR-kuhlz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "circles"?
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 "circles" 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 "SUR-kuhlz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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