d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
How to pronounce department in American English
duh·PART·muhnt
Start here
Americans pronounce department as duh-PART-muhnt (/dəˈpɑrtmənt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Who is in charge of this department?" or "He works in the marketing department" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "department" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "department".
3 syllables, 9 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.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
ar/ɑr/
Open wide for the 'ah' vowel. Lift the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "department" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Could you please forward this message to the appropriate department?"
kuud yoo PLEEZ FOR·werd dhihs MEH·suhj tuh dhee uh·PROH·pree·uht duh·PART·muhnt
"He works as a film editor in the post-production department."
hee WURKS uhz uh FIHLM EH·duh·der ihn dhuh POHST pruh·DUHK·shuhn duh·PART·muhnt
"He works in the marketing department."
hee WURKS ihn dhuh MAR·kuh·tuhng duh·PART·muhnt
"Her perfect score surprised the entire department."
her PUR·fuhkt SKOR ser·PRAHYZD dhee uhn·TAHY·er duh·PART·muhnt
"The department is implementing body cameras for all officers."
dhuh duh·PART·muhnt ihz IHM·pluh·mehn·tuhng BAH·dee KA·muh·ruhz fer AHL AH·fuh·serz
"Who is in charge of this department?"
hoo ihz ihn CHARJ uhv dhihs duh·PART·muhnt
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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "department", the "t" 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.
department→duh·PART·muhnt
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "department", 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.
department→duh·PART·muhnt
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch PART — keep everything else short and quick.
DUH·part·MUHNT→duh·PART·muhnt
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.
DUH·PART·muhnt→duh·PART·muhnt
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "department" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "PART" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "duh-PART-muhnt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "department" 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 "duh-PART-muhnt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "department"?
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 "department" 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 "duh-PART-muhnt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "department". 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.