g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce grassroots in American English
GRAS·roots
Start here
Americans pronounce grassroots as GRAS-roots (/ˈgræsˌruts/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Grassroots movements have influenced political discourse significantly".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "grassroots".
2 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
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.
oo/u/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "grassroots" 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 GRAS — keep everything else short and quick.
gras·ROOTS→GRAS·ROOTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "grassroots" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "GRAS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "GRAS-roots" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "grassroots" 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 "GRAS-roots" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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