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 determine in American English
duh·TUR·muhn
Start here
Americans pronounce determine as duh-TUR-muhn (/dəˈtɜrmən/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He explained how dominant and recessive genes determine eye color" or "The referendum was held to determine public support for the treaty" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "determine".
3 syllables, 7 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.
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.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "determine" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He explained how dominant and recessive genes determine eye color."
hee uhk·SPLAYND HOW DAH·muh·nuhnt and ruh·SEH·suhv JEENZ duh·TUR·muhn AHY KUH·ler
"The referendum was held to determine public support for the treaty."
dhuh reh·fuh·REHN·duhm wuhz HEHLD tuh duh·TUR·muhn PUH·bluhk suh·PORT fer dhuh TREE·dee
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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 "determine", 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.
determine→duh·TUR·muhn
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch TUR — keep everything else short and quick.
DUH·tur·MUHN→duh·TUR·muhn
03
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·TUR·muhn→duh·TUR·muhn
04
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 "determine" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "duh-TUR-muhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "determine" 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-TUR-muhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "determine"?
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 "determine" 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-TUR-muhn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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