h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
How to pronounce homework in American English
HOHM·wurk
Start here
Americans pronounce homework as HOHM-wurk (/ˈhoʊmˌwɜrk/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The teacher handed out a worksheet for homework" or "She asked the instructor for clarification on the homework guidelines" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "homework" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "homework".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "homework" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "homework", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
homework→HOHM·WURK
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch HOHM — keep everything else short and quick.
hohm·WURK→HOHM·WURK
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 "homework" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "HOHM" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "HOHM-wurk" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "homework"?
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 "homework" 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 "HOHM-wurk" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "homework". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.