g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce gonna in American English
GUH·nuh
Start here
Gonna is how Americans actually say "going to" in casual speech — respell: GUH-nuh (/ˈgʌnə/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "We are going to the park" or "What are you going to do now?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "gonna".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "gonna" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He has been going to the gym three times a week."
hee huhz bihn GOH·uhng tuh dhuh JIHM THREE TAHYMZ uh WEEK
"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
"I thought you were going to be here."
ahy THAHT yoo wer GOH·uhng tuh bee HEER
"I usually read a few chapters before going to sleep at night."
ahy YOO·zhoo·uh·lee REED uh FYOO CHAP·terz buh·FOR GOH·uhng tuh SLEEP uht NAHYT
"I'm going to the grocery store later."
ahym GOH·uhng tuh dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR LAY·der
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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 GUH — keep everything else short and quick.
guh·NUH→GUH·nuh
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.
GUH·NUH→GUH·nuh
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "gonna" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "GUH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "GUH-nuh" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "gonna" 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 "GUH-nuh" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "gonna" 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 "GUH-nuh" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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