How to pronounce eliminate in American English

IPA /əˈlɪməˌneɪt/ Syllables 4 · uh·lih·muh·nayt Stress 2nd syllable

uh·LIH·muh·nayt

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Americans pronounce eliminate as uh-LIH-muh-nayt (/əˈlɪməˌneɪt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on most goods" or "The foundation works to eliminate barriers to opportunity for all" — more examples below.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "eliminate", 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.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch LIH — keep everything else short and quick.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "eliminate".

4 syllables, 8 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.

l/l/

Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.

ih/ɪ/

Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.

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/

Syllabic

The schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.

ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

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 "eliminate" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"The foundation works to eliminate barriers to opportunity for all."

dhuh fown·DAY·shuhn WURKS tuh uh·LIH·muh·nayt BA·ree·erz tuh ah·per·TOO·nuh·tee fer AHL

"The trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on most goods."

dhuh TRAYD uh·GREE·muhnt wihl uh·LIH·muh·nayt TAIR·uhfs ahn MOHST GUUDZ

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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.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "eliminate", 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.

eliminate→uh·LIH·muh·NAYT

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch LIH — keep everything else short and quick.

UH·lih·MUH·NAYT→uh·LIH·muh·NAYT

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.

UH·LIH·muh·nayt→uh·LIH·muh·NAYT

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "eliminate" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the second syllable — say "LIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-LIH-muh-nayt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the first syllable in "eliminate" 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 "uh-LIH-muh-nayt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

Is the American pronunciation of "eliminate" 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 "uh-LIH-muh-nayt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Every sound in "eliminate".

Hear "eliminate" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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