k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce country in American English
KUHN·tree
Start here
Americans pronounce country as KUHN-tree (/ˈkʌntri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She competes in fencing tournaments around the country" or "The seasons change quickly in this part of the country" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "country".
2 syllables, 6 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.
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.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "country" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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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 KUHN — keep everything else short and quick.
kuhn·TREE→KUHN·tree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "country" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KUHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KUHN-tree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "country" 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-tree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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