eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
How to pronounce energy in American English
EH·ner·jee
Start here
Americans pronounce energy as EH-ner-jee (/ˈɛnərdʒi/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She has a lot of energy" or "She switched to led light bulbs to save energy" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "energy".
3 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "energy" 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
"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed."
EH·ner·jee KA·naht bee kree·AY·duhd or duh·STROYD OHN·lee trans·FORMD
"Energy prices have been a major concern for economists lately."
EH·ner·jee PRAHY·suhz huhv bihn uh MAY·jer kuhn·SURN fer uh·KAH·nuh·muhsts LAYT·lee
"He received a grant to fund his research project on renewable energy."
hee ruh·SEEVD uh GRANT tuh FUHND hihz REE·surch PRAH·jehkt ahn ruh·NOO·uh·buhl EH·ner·jee
"I prefer listening to live music because of the energy in the crowd."
ahy pruh·FUR LIH·suh·nuhng tuh LAHYV MYOO·zuhk buh·KUHZ uhv dhee EH·ner·jee ihn dhuh KROWD
"Photosynthesis is the process used by plants to convert light into energy."
foh·duh·SIHN·thuh·suhs ihz dhuh PRAH·sehs YOOZD bahy PLANTS tuh kuhn·VURT LAHYT ihn·too EH·ner·jee
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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 EH — keep everything else short and quick.
eh·NER·JEE→EH·ner·jee
02
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 "energy" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "EH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "EH-ner-jee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "energy"?
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 "energy" 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 "EH-ner-jee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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