k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce compost in American English
KAHM·pohst
Start here
Americans pronounce compost as KAHM-pohst (/ˈkɑmˌpoʊst/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He uses compost to fertilize the garden naturally".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "compost".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
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.
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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 KAHM — keep everything else short and quick.
kahm·POHST→KAHM·POHST
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "compost" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KAHM" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KAHM-pohst" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "compost" 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 "KAHM-pohst" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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