g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce gathering in American English
GA·dher·uhng
Start here
Americans pronounce gathering as GA-dher-uhng (/ˈgæðərəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I spent hours in the library gathering sources for my paper" or "I am looking forward to seeing you at the gathering tomorrow" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "gathering".
3 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "gathering" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I am looking forward to seeing you at the gathering tomorrow."
ahy uhm LUU·kuhng FOR·werd tuh SEE·uhng yoo uht dhuh GA·dher·uhng tuh·MAH·roh
"I spent hours in the library gathering sources for my paper."
ahy SPEHNT OW·erz ihn dhuh LAHY·brair·ee GA·dher·uhng SOR·suhz fer mahy PAY·per
"We are gathering to honor his achievements over the past decade."
wee er GA·dher·uhng tuh AH·ner hihz uh·CHEEV·muhnts OH·ver dhuh PAST DEH·kayd
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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 GA — keep everything else short and quick.
ga·DHER·UHNG→GA·dher·uhng
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
GA·dher·UHNG→GA·dher·uhng
03
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 is "gathering" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "GA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "GA-dher-uhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "gathering" 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 "GA-dher-uhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "gathering"?
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 "gathering" 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 "GA-dher-uhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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