h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
How to pronounce hearing in American English
HEER·uhng
Start here
Americans pronounce hearing as HEER-uhng (/ˈhɪrəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The sentencing hearing is scheduled for next month" or "He seemed genuinely upset after hearing what happened" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "hearing".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eer/ɪr/
Start with the high 'ih' position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips slightly.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "hearing" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He seemed genuinely upset after hearing what happened."
hee SEEMD JEHN·yoo·uhn·lee uhp·SEHT AF·ter HEER·uhng wuht HA·puhnd
"He was denied his right to due process during the hearing."
hee wuhz duh·NAHYD hihz RAHYT tuh DOO PRAH·sehs DUUR·uhng dhuh HEER·uhng
"I look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter."
ahy LUUK FOR·werd tuh HEER·uhng fruhm yoo ruh·GAR·duhng dhihs MA·der
"The sentencing hearing is scheduled for next month."
dhuh SEHN·tuhn·suhng HEER·uhng ihz SKEH·joold fer NEHKST muhnth
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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 HEER — keep everything else short and quick.
heer·UHNG→HEER·uhng
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.
HEER·UHNG→HEER·uhng
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "hearing" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "HEER" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "HEER-uhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "hearing" 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 "HEER-uhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "hearing"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "hearing" 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 "HEER-uhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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