k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce congratulations in American English
kuhn·gra·chuh·LAY·shuhnz
Start here
Americans pronounce congratulations as kuhn-gra-chuh-LAY-shuhnz (/kənˌɡrætʃəˈleɪʃənz/). Stress falls on the fourth syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Congratulations on your promotion which was well deserved indeed!" or "May I offer my congratulations to the happy couple on their engagement?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "congratulations".
5 syllables, 14 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
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.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
ch/tʃ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'sh' position. Flare your lips.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
l/l/
SyllabicThe schwa before L disappears — L becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to a Dark L.
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.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "congratulations" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Congratulations on your promotion which was well deserved indeed!"
kuhn·gra·chuh·LAY·shuhnz ahn yer pruh·MOH·shuhn wihch wuhz wehl duh·ZURVD uhn·DEED
"May I offer my congratulations to the happy couple on their engagement?"
MAY ahy AH·fer mahy kuhn·gra·chuh·LAY·shuhnz tuh dhuh HA·pee KUH·puhl ahn dhair uhn·GAYJ·muhnt
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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
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "congratulations", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
congratulations→kuhn·GRA·chuh·LAY·shuhnz
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the fourth syllable, not the others. Stretch LAY — keep everything else short and quick.
KUHN·GRA·CHUH·lay·SHUHNZ→kuhn·GRA·chuh·LAY·shuhnz
03
Pronouncing the first 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.
KUHN·gra·chuh·LAY·shuhnz→kuhn·GRA·chuh·LAY·shuhnz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "congratulations" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the fourth syllable — say "LAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "kuhn-gra-chuh-LAY-shuhnz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "congratulations" 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 "kuhn-gra-chuh-LAY-shuhnz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "congratulations" 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 "kuhn-gra-chuh-LAY-shuhnz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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