uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce explained in American English
uhk·SPLAYND
Start here
Americans pronounce explained as uhk-SPLAYND (/əkˈspleɪnd/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The instructor explained it clearly" or "She explained the water cycle to the students" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "explained" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "explained".
2 syllables, 8 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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
l/l/
Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "explained" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He explained how dominant and recessive genes determine eye color."
hee uhk·SPLAYND HOW DAH·muh·nuhnt and ruh·SEH·suhv JEENZ duh·TUR·muhn AHY KUH·ler
"He explained how mountains are formed by tectonic forces."
hee uhk·SPLAYND HOW MOWN·tuhnz er FORMD bahy tehk·TAH·nuhk FOR·suhz
"He explained the offside rule to his friend who was confused."
hee uhk·SPLAYND dhee AHF·sahyd ROOL tuh hihz FREHND hoo wuhz kuhn·FYOOZD
"He explained the phases of the moon to the class."
hee uhk·SPLAYND dhuh FAY·zuhz uhv dhuh MOON tuh dhuh KLAS
"She explained Newton's laws of motion to the students."
shee uhk·SPLAYND NOO·duhnz LAHZ uhv MOH·shuhn tuh dhuh STOO·duhnts
"She explained the side effects of the medication to the patient."
shee uhk·SPLAYND dhuh SAHYD uh·FEHKTS uhv dhuh meh·duh·KAY·shuhn tuh dhuh PAY·shuhnt
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch SPLAYND — keep everything else short and quick.
UHK·splaynd→uhk·SPLAYND
02
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.
UHK·SPLAYND→uhk·SPLAYND
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "explained" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SPLAYND" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uhk-SPLAYND" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "explained" 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 "uhk-SPLAYND" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "explained" 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 "uhk-SPLAYND" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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