How to pronounce hits in American English

IPA /hɪts/ Syllables 1 · hihts Stress 1st syllable

HIHTS

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Americans pronounce hits as HIHTS (/hɪts/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He is a talented songwriter who has written hits for many stars".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "hits".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

h/h/

Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.

ih/ɪ/

Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.

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.

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

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"He is a talented songwriter who has written hits for many stars."

hee ihz uh TA·luhn·tuhd SAHNG·rahy·der hoo huhz RIH·duhn HIHTS fer MEH·nee STARZ

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Questions

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