g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce guest in American English
GEHST
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Americans pronounce guest as GEHST (/gɛst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The girl gave the guest a glass of glue" or "The restless guest made a mess of the dress" — more examples below.
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Record yourself saying "guest" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "guest".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "guest" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "guest" 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 "GEHST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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