g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce groceries in American English
GROH·suh·reez
Start here
Americans pronounce groceries as GROH-suh-reez (/ˈgroʊsəriz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She clips coupons every week to save money on groceries".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "groceries" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "groceries".
3 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.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
r/r/
SyllabicThe schwa before R disappears — R becomes the vowel of the syllable. This is the 'er' sound without a distinct vowel before it.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 GROH — keep everything else short and quick.
groh·SUH·REEZ→GROH·suh·reez
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.
GROH·SUH·reez→GROH·suh·reez
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "groceries" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "GROH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "GROH-suh-reez" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "groceries" 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 "GROH-suh-reez" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "groceries" 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 "GROH-suh-reez" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "groceries". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.