How to pronounce fifth in American English

IPA /fɪfθ/ Syllables 1 · fihfth Stress 1st syllable

FIHFTH

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Americans pronounce fifth as FIHFTH (/fɪfθ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He pleaded the fifth amendment to avoid self-incrimination".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "fifth".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

f/f/

Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.

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.

f/f/

Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.

th/θ/

Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "fifth" in the wild.

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"He pleaded the fifth amendment to avoid self-incrimination."

hee PLEE·duhd dhuh FIHFTH uh·MEHND·muhnt tuh uh·VOYD SEHLF ihn·krih·muh·NAY·shuhn

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Questions

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Is the American pronunciation of "fifth" 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 "FIHFTH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.