g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce ghost in American English
GOHST
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Americans pronounce ghost as GOHST (/goʊst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Ignore the angry ghost in the grey garage" or "Most of the post was about the ghost host" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "ghost".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. 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.
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 "ghost" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "ghost" 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 "GOHST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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