uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce examined in American English
uhg·ZA·muhnd
Start here
Americans pronounce examined as uhg-ZA-muhnd (/əɡˈzæmənd/). In "examined", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before M/N, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. It comes out as uhg·ZA·muhnd. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She was cross-examined by the opposing counsel aggressively".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "examined".
3 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
a/æ/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
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/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
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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
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "examined", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
uhg-ZA-muhnd→uhg·ZA·muhnd
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "examined", 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.
examined→uhg·ZA·muhnd
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch ZA — keep everything else short and quick.
UHG·za·MUHND→uhg·ZA·muhnd
04
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.
UHG·ZA·muhnd→uhg·ZA·muhnd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "examined" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "ZA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uhg-ZA-muhnd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "examined" 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 "uhg-ZA-muhnd" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "examined" 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 "uhg-ZA-muhnd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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