How to pronounce cup in American English

IPA /kʌp/ Syllables 1 · kuhp Stress 1st syllable

KUHP

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Americans pronounce cup as KUHP (/kʌp/). You'll hear it in sentences like "A cup of tea" or "Can you get me a cup of coffee?" — more examples below.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "cup", the "p" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "cup".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

In real conversation

Hear "cup" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"A cup of tea."

uh KUHP uhv TEE

"Bring a cup of water to the cop who lost his cap."

BRIHNG uh KUHP uhv WAH·der tuh dhuh KAHP hoo LAHST hihz KAP

"Can you get me a cup of coffee?"

kuhn yuh GEHT mee uh KUHP uhv KAH·fee

"Can you pass me that cup and that glass?"

kuhn yoo PAS mee DHAT KUHP and DHAT GLAS

"Could you grab the blue cup from the shelf?"

kuud yoo GRAB dhuh BLOO KUHP fruhm dhuh SHEHLF

"He needs help to hold the heavy gold cup."

hee NEEDZ HEHLP tuh HOHLD dhuh HEH·vee GOHLD KUHP

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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.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "cup", the "p" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

cup→KUHP

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "cup" 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 "KUHP" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Every sound in "cup".

Hear "cup" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Questions people ask about this.

Stop reading about "cup". Start saying it.