f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
How to pronounce first in American English
FURST
Start here
Americans pronounce first as FURST (/fɜrst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The nurse works first" or "I think we should take the first one" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "first".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
In real conversation
Hear "first" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment."
FREE·duhm uhv SPEECH ihz gair·uhn·TEED bahy dhuh FURST uh·MEHND·muhnt
"He collects first editions of his favorite science fiction books."
hee kuh·LEHKTS FURST uh·DIH·shuhnz uhv hihz FAY·ver·uht SAHY·uhns FIHK·shuhn BUUKS
"He focuses on learning high-frequency words first."
hee FOH·kuh·suhz ahn LUR·nuhng HAHY FREE·kwuhn·see WURDZ FURST
"He struggled with homesickness during his first semester away."
hee STRUH·guhld wihth HOHM·sihk·nuhs DUUR·uhng hihz FURST suh·MEH·ster uh·WAY
"Her career in marketing is her first priority."
her kuh·REER ihn MAR·kuh·tuhng ihz her FURST prahy·OR·uh·tee
"I always check my schedule first thing in the morning."
ahy AHL·wayz CHEHK mahy SKEH·juhl FURST thihng ihn dhuh MOR·nuhng
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "first", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
first→FURST
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "first"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "first" 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 "FURST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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