How to pronounce groups in American English

IPA /grups/ Syllables 1 · groops Stress 1st syllable

GROOPS

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Americans pronounce groups as GROOPS (/grups/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The class was divided into small groups for the project work" or "Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the new law" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "groups".

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.

oo/u/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.

p/p/

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

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 "groups" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the new law."

SIH·vuhl LIH·ber·teez GROOPS huhv RAYZD kuhn·SURNZ uh·BOWT dhuh noo LAH

"She suggested we break into smaller groups for the brainstorming session."

shee suhg·JEH·stuhd wee BRAYK IHN·too SMAH·ler GROOPS fer dhuh BRAYN·stor·muhng SEH·shuhn

"The class was divided into small groups for the project work."

dhuh KLAS wuhz duh·VAHY·duhd IHN·too SMAHL GROOPS fer dhuh PRAH·jehkt WURK

"The report highlighted disparities in healthcare outcomes among groups."

dhuh ruh·PORT HAHY·lahy·duhd duh·SPAIR·uh·teez ihn HEHLTH·kair OWT·kuhmz uh·MUHNG GROOPS

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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