k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce consideration in American English
kuhn·sih·der·AY·shuhn
Start here
Americans pronounce consideration as kuhn-sih-der-AY-shuhn (/kənˌsɪdəˈreɪʃən/). In "consideration", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. So instead of kuhn·sih·ter·AY·shuhn, you get kuhn·SIH·der·AY·shuhn. Stress falls on the fourth syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "That is a fair point, and I will take it into consideration" or "I would like to propose a counteroffer for your consideration" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "consideration" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "consideration".
5 syllables, 11 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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "consideration" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He raised some valid points that deserve further consideration."
hee RAYZD suhm VA·luhd POYNTS dhuht duh·ZURV FUR·dher kuhn·sih·der·AY·shuhn
"I would like to propose a counteroffer for your consideration."
ahy wuud LAHYK tuh pruh·POHZ uh KOWN·ter·ah·fer fer yor kuhn·sih·der·AY·shuhn
"That is a fair point, and I will take it into consideration."
DHAT ihz uh FAIR POYNT and ahy wihl TAYK iht IHN·too kuhn·sih·der·AY·shuhn
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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "consideration", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
kuhn-sih-ter-AY-shuhn→kuhn·SIH·der·AY·shuhn
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "consideration", 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.
consideration→kuhn·SIH·der·AY·shuhn
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the fourth syllable, not the others. Stretch AY — keep everything else short and quick.
KUHN·SIH·DER·ay·SHUHN→kuhn·SIH·der·AY·shuhn
04
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·sih·der·AY·shuhn→kuhn·SIH·der·AY·shuhn
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "consideration" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the fourth syllable — say "AY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "kuhn-sih-der-AY-shuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "consideration"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "consideration" sounds closer to "kuhn-sih-der-AY-shuhn" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the first syllable in "consideration" 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-sih-der-AY-shuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "consideration"?
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.
Stop reading about "consideration". 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.