k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce cooperation in American English
koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn
Start here
Americans pronounce cooperation as koh-ah-puh-RAY-shuhn (/koʊˌɑpəˈreɪʃən/). Stress falls on the fourth syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Thank you for your continued support and cooperation" or "Cross-border cooperation has improved security significantly" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "cooperation".
5 syllables, 10 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
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.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
r/r/
SyllabicThe schwa before R disappears — R becomes the vowel of the syllable. This is the 'er' sound without a distinct vowel before it.
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 "cooperation" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Cross-border cooperation has improved security significantly."
KRAHS BOR·der koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn huhz uhm·PROOVD suh·KYUUR·uh·dee suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee
"Thank you for your continued support and cooperation."
THANGK yoo fer yer kuhn·TIHN·yood suh·PORT and koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn
"The team has demonstrated excellent cooperation throughout the project."
dhuh TEEM huhz DEH·muhn·stray·duhd EHK·suh·luhnt koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn throo·OWT dhuh PRAH·jehkt
"International cooperation is essential for addressing global challenges."
ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn ihz uh·SEHN·shuhl fer uh·DREH·suhng GLOH·buhl CHA·luhn·juhz
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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 "cooperation", 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.
cooperation→koh·AH·puh·RAY·shuhn
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the fourth syllable, not the others. Stretch RAY — keep everything else short and quick.
KOH·AH·PUH·ray·SHUHN→koh·AH·puh·RAY·shuhn
03
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
koh·ah·PUH·RAY·shuhn→koh·AH·puh·RAY·shuhn
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "cooperation" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the fourth syllable — say "RAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "koh-ah-puh-RAY-shuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "cooperation" 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 "koh-ah-puh-RAY-shuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "cooperation" 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 "koh-ah-puh-RAY-shuhn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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