j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce gender in American English
JEHN·der
Start here
Americans pronounce gender as JEHN-der (/ˈdʒɛndər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Gender equality in the workplace remains an ongoing struggle" or "Discrimination based on race or gender is strictly prohibited" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "gender".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "gender" in the wild.
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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 JEHN — keep everything else short and quick.
jehn·DER→JEHN·der
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 is "gender" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "JEHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "JEHN-der" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "gender"?
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 "gender" 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 "JEHN-der" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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