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 focused in American English
FOH·kuhst
Start here
Americans pronounce focused as FOH-kuhst (/ˈfoʊkəst/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The show focused on the golden rose closure" or "He sat in the front row to stay focused during lectures" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "focused".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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 "focused" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He sat in the front row to stay focused during lectures."
hee SAT ihn dhuh FRUHNT ROH tuh STAY FOH·kuhst DUUR·uhng LEHK·cherz
"She facilitated the discussion and kept everyone focused on the objectives."
shee fuh·SIH·luh·tay·duhd dhuh duh·SKUH·shuhn and KEHPT EHV·ree·wuhn FOH·kuhst ahn dhee uhb·JEHK·tuhvz
"She found a quiet corner in the library for focused studying."
shee FOWND uh KWAHY·uht KOR·ner ihn dhuh LAHY·brair·ee fer FOH·kuhst STUH·dee·uhng
"The show focused on the golden rose closure."
dhuh SHOH FOH·kuhst ahn dhuh GOHL·duhn ROHZ KLOH·zher
"The seminar focused on contemporary issues in environmental science."
dhuh SEH·muh·nar FOH·kuhst ahn kuhn·TEHM·puh·reh·ree IH·shooz ihn uhn·vahy·ruhn·MEHN·tuhl SAHY·uhns
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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 FOH — keep everything else short and quick.
foh·KUHST→FOH·kuhst
02
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
FOH·KUHST→FOH·kuhst
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "focused" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "FOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "FOH-kuhst" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "focused" 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 "FOH-kuhst" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "focused" 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 "FOH-kuhst" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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