g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce grocery in American English
GROH·suh·ree
Start here
Americans pronounce grocery as GROH-suh-ree (/ˈgroʊsəri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "When does the grocery store close?" or "I'm going to the grocery store later" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "grocery" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "grocery".
3 syllables, 7 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.
In real conversation
Hear "grocery" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Are there any other grocery stores around here?"
ar DHAIR EH·nee UH·dher GROH·suh·ree STORZ uh·ROWND HEER
"I need to go to the bank, the post office, and the grocery store."
ahy NEED tuh GOH tuh dhuh BANGK dhuh POHST AH·fuhs and dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR
"I ran into your neighbor at the grocery store yesterday."
ahy RAN IHN·too yer NAY·ber uht dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR YEH·ster·day
"I'm going to the grocery store later."
ahym GOH·uhng tuh dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR LAY·der
"The grocery store was completely out of milk this morning."
dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR wuhz kuhm·PLEET·lee OWT uhv MIHLK dhihs MOR·nuhng
"We're going to the grocery store after this."
weer GOH·uhng tuh dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR AF·ter dhihs
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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 GROH — keep everything else short and quick.
groh·SUH·REE→GROH·suh·ree
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·ree→GROH·suh·ree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "grocery" 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-ree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "grocery" 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-ree" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "grocery" 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-ree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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