g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce going in American English
GOH·uhng
Start here
Americans pronounce going as GOH-uhng (/ˈgoʊəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Going running" or "How's it going?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "going".
2 syllables, 4 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.
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 "going" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Everything is going wrong this evening."
EHV·ree·thuhng ihz GOH·uhng RAHNG dhihs EEV·nuhng
"He has been going to the gym three times a week."
hee huhz bihn GOH·uhng tuh dhuh JIHM THREE TAHYMZ uh WEEK
"He is thinking of going for a long run."
hee ihz THIHNG·kuhng uhv GOH·uhng fer uh lahng RUHN
"He suffered a sports injury and is going to physical therapy."
hee SUH·ferd uh SPORTS IHN·juh·ree and ihz GOH·uhng tuh FIH·zuh·kuhl THEH·ruh·pee
"He's going to put on a jacket because it's cold."
heez GOH·uhng tuh PUUT AHN uh JA·kuht buh·KUHZ ihts KOHLD
"How's it going?"
HOWZ iht GOH·ing
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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 GOH — keep everything else short and quick.
goh·UHNG→GOH·uhng
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.
GOH·UHNG→GOH·uhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "going" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "GOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "GOH-uhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "going" 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 "GOH-uhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "going" 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 "GOH-uhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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