h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
How to pronounce her in American English
her
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Americans pronounce her as her (/hər/). The "h" in "her" is dropped in connected speech — the preceding word's final consonant links directly to the remaining vowel — most natural in casual, rapid speech; in careful or formal speech, the H is typically kept. This is called the Silent H (in him, her, has), how Americans collapse little words. It comes out as her. You'll hear it in sentences like "Her bird has fur" or "Write a letter to her" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "her".
1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "her" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He gave her his honest opinion."
hee GAYV er ihz AH·nuhst uh·PIHN·yuhn
"He rode his bike back home at her beck and call."
hee ROHD hihz BAHYK BAK HOHM uht her BEHK uhnd KAHL
"Her address is seventeen-eighty West Street."
her A·drehs ihz seh·vuhn·TEEN AY·dee WEHST STREET
"Her bird has fur."
HUR BURD huhz FUR
"Her brother drives a bright red car."
her BRUH·dher DRAHYVZ uh BRAHYT REHD KAR
"Her brother drives a dark green car."
her BRUH·dher DRAHYVZ uh DARK GREEN KAR
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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
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 do I pronounce the R in "her"?
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 "her" 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 "her" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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