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 diagnosis in American English
dahy·uhg·NOH·suhs
Start here
Americans pronounce diagnosis as dahy-uhg-NOH-suhs (/ˌdaɪəgˈnoʊsəs/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The diagnosis was confirmed by a series of blood tests".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "diagnosis".
4 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
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.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "diagnosis", the "g" 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.
diagnosis→DAHY·uhg·NOH·suhs
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch NOH — keep everything else short and quick.
DAHY·UHG·noh·SUHS→DAHY·uhg·NOH·suhs
03
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
dahy·UHG·NOH·suhs→DAHY·uhg·NOH·suhs
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "diagnosis" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "NOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "dahy-uhg-NOH-suhs" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "diagnosis" 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 "dahy-uhg-NOH-suhs" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "diagnosis" 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 "dahy-uhg-NOH-suhs" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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