uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce erosion in American English
uh·ROH·zhuhn
Start here
Americans pronounce erosion as uh-ROH-zhuhn (/əˈroʊʒən/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The explosion caused an unusual erosion" or "He is researching the effects of deforestation on soil erosion" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "erosion".
3 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
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.
zh/ʒ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Add vocal cord vibration.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
In real conversation
Hear "erosion" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He is researching the effects of deforestation on soil erosion."
hee ihz ruh·SUR·chuhng dhee uh·FEHKTS uhv dee·for·uh·STAY·shuhn ahn SOYL uh·ROH·zhuhn
"The explosion caused an unusual erosion."
dhee uhk·SPLOH·zhuhn KAHZD uhn uhn·YOO·zhoo·uhl uh·ROH·zhuhn
"The canyon was formed by the erosion of the river over millions of years."
dhuh KAN·yuhn wuhz FORMD bahy dhee uh·ROH·zhuhn uhv dhuh RIH·ver OH·ver MIHL·yuhnz uhv YEERZ
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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
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "erosion", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
erosion→uh·ROH·zhuhn
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch ROH — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·roh·ZHUHN→uh·ROH·zhuhn
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·ROH·zhuhn→uh·ROH·zhuhn
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "erosion" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "ROH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-ROH-zhuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "erosion" 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-ROH-zhuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "erosion" 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-ROH-zhuhn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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