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 during in American English
DUUR·uhng
Start here
Americans pronounce during as DUUR-uhng (/ˈdʊrɪŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He kept quiet during the entire film" or "I prefer to travel during the spring" — more examples below.
Now you try.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "during".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uur/ʊr/
Start with the 'uu' position. Pull the tongue back and up while maintaining the lip flare.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "during" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Bender kept a steady level of energy during the trek."
BEHN·der KEHPT uh STEH·dee LEH·vuhl uhv EH·ner·jee DUUR·uhng dhuh TREHK
"David did the deed during the difficult day."
DAY·vuhd dihd dhuh DEED DUUR·uhng dhuh DIH·fuh·kuhlt DAY
"He kept quiet during the entire film."
hee KEHP KWAHY·uht DUUR·uhng dhee uhn·TAHY·er FIHLM
"He minimized distractions by turning off notifications during study time."
hee MIH·nuh·mahyzd duh·STRAK·shuhnz bahy TUR·nuhng AHF noh·duh·fuh·KAY·shuhnz DUUR·uhng STUH·dee TAHYM
"He sat in the front row to stay focused during lectures."
hee SAT ihn dhuh FRUHNT ROH tuh STAY FOH·kuhst DUUR·uhng LEHK·cherz
"He struggled with homesickness during his first semester away."
hee STRUH·guhld wihth HOHM·sihk·nuhs DUUR·uhng hihz FURST suh·MEH·ster uh·WAY
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch DUUR — keep everything else short and quick.
duur·UHNG→DUUR·uhng
02
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.
DUUR·UHNG→DUUR·uhng
03
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 "during" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "DUUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "DUUR-uhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "during" 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 "DUUR-uhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "during"?
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 "during" 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 "DUUR-uhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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