How to pronounce grasp in American English

IPA /græsp/ Syllables 1 · grasp Stress 1st syllable

GRASP

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Americans pronounce grasp as GRASP (/græsp/). It's 5 sounds in 1 syllable. Every consonant in the cluster gets its turn — no shortcuts in casual American speech.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "grasp".

1 syllable, 5 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

g/g/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

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.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "grasp" 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 "GRASP" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.