How to pronounce dough in American English

IPA /doʊ/ Syllables 1 · doh Stress 1st syllable

DOH

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Americans pronounce dough as DOH (/doʊ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He let the dough rise for about an hour before baking it".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "dough".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

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.

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.

In real conversation

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"He let the dough rise for about an hour before baking it."

hee LEHT dhuh DOH RAHYZ fer uh·BOWT uhn OW·er buh·FOR BAY·kuhng iht

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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