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 frankly in American English
FRANG·klee
Start here
Americans pronounce frankly as FRANG-klee (/ˈfræŋkli/). In "frankly", the "a" vowel before NG shifts toward "ay" — sounding like "ay" as in "say", a distinctly American pattern — most prominent in Midwestern American English; other GenAm speakers may use a less raised vowel. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before NG, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as FRANG·klee. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Frankly speaking, I do not think that solution will work".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "frankly" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "frankly".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
a/æ/
Nasalized-ngBefore NG, the vowel changes to sound more like the AY (/eɪ/) diphthong. The middle part of the tongue lifts toward the roof of the mouth, then the front part arches up.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 NG too pure.
In "frankly", the "a" vowel before NG shifts toward "ay" — sounding like "ay" as in "say", a distinctly American pattern — most prominent in Midwestern American English; other GenAm speakers may use a less raised vowel. Vowel changes to sound like /eɪ/ ("ay" as in "say").
FRANG-klee→FRANG·klee
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch FRANG — keep everything else short and quick.
frang·KLEE→FRANG·klee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "frankly" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "FRANG" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "FRANG-klee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "frankly" 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 "FRANG-klee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "frankly". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.