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 everything in American English
EHV·ree·thuhng
Start here
Americans pronounce everything as EHV-ree-thuhng (/ˈɛvriˌθɪŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Thank you for everything you've done" or "Everything is going wrong this evening" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "everything".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
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 "everything" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Everything is going wrong this evening."
EHV·ree·thuhng ihz GOH·uhng RAHNG dhihs EEV·nuhng
"He works as a stage manager ensuring everything runs smoothly."
hee WURKS uhz uh STAYJ MA·nuh·jer uhn·SHUUR·uhng EHV·ree·thuhng RUHNZ SMOODH·lee
"I completely agree with everything you just mentioned."
ahy kuhm·PLEET·lee uh·GREE wihth EHV·ree·thuhng yuh juhst MEHN·shuhnd
"I felt overwhelmed at first, but now I am relieved everything worked out."
ahy FEHLT oh·ver·WEHLMD uht FURST buht NOW ahy uhm ruh·LEEVD EHV·ree·thuhng WURKT OWT
"I organized the toolbox so I could find everything more easily."
ahy OR·guh·nahyzd dhuh TOOL·bahks SOH ahy kuhd FAHYND EHV·ree·thuhng MOR EE·zuh·lee
"Thank you for everything you've done."
THANGK yoo fer EHV·ree·thuhng yoov DUHN
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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 EHV — keep everything else short and quick.
ehv·REE·THUHNG→EHV·ree·THUHNG
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
EHV·ree·THUHNG→EHV·ree·THUHNG
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "everything" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "EHV" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "EHV-ree-thuhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "everything" 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 "EHV-ree-thuhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "everything" 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 "EHV-ree-thuhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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