k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce coworkers in American English
koh·WUR·kerz
Start here
Americans pronounce coworkers as koh-WUR-kerz (/ˌkoʊˈwɜrkərz/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She prefers to carpool with coworkers to save on fuel costs".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "coworkers".
3 syllables, 7 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.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch WUR — keep everything else short and quick.
KOH·wur·KERZ→KOH·WUR·kerz
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "coworkers" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "WUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "koh-WUR-kerz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "coworkers"?
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.
Is the American pronunciation of "coworkers" 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-WUR-kerz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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