uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce equipped in American English
uh·KWIHPT
Start here
Americans pronounce equipped as uh-KWIHPT (/əˈkwɪpt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art technology" or "The laboratory is equipped with advanced scientific instruments" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "equipped".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
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.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
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 "equipped" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"The classroom was equipped with modern technology for presentations."
dhuh KLAS·room wuhz uh·KWIHPT wihth MAH·dern tehk·NAH·luh·jee fer preh·zuhn·TAY·shuhnz
"The laboratory is equipped with advanced scientific instruments."
dhuh LA·bruh·tor·ee ihz uh·KWIHPT wihth uhd·VANST sahy·uhn·TIH·fuhk IHN·struh·muhnts
"The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art technology."
dhuh LA·bruh·tor·ee ihz uh·KWIHPT wihth STAYT uhv dhee ART tehk·NAH·luh·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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "equipped", 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.
equipped→uh·KWIHPT
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch KWIHPT — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·kwihpt→uh·KWIHPT
03
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·KWIHPT→uh·KWIHPT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "equipped" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "KWIHPT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-KWIHPT" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "equipped" 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-KWIHPT" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "equipped" 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-KWIHPT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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