ow/aʊ/
Start with a dropped jaw and flat tongue. Glide into a relaxed, slightly rounded lip position as the back of the tongue stretches up.
How to pronounce hours in American English
OW·erz
Start here
Americans pronounce hours as OW-erz (/ˈaʊərz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I have to drive twelve hours to visit them" or "Counting down the hours allowed us to bounce" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "hours".
2 syllables, 3 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then 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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "hours" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Counting down the hours allowed us to bounce."
KOWN·tuhng DOWN dhee OW·erz uh·LOWD uhs tuh BOWNS
"He forgot to set his alarm and overslept by almost two hours."
hee fer·GAHT tuh SEHT hihz uh·LARM and oh·ver·SLEHPT bahy AHL·mohst TOO OWRZ
"He reviewed his notes within twenty-four hours of the lecture."
hee ruh·VYOOD hihz NOHTS wih·DHIHN TWEHN·tee FOR OW·erz uhv dhuh LEHK·cher
"I have to drive twelve hours to visit them."
ahy hav tuh DRAHYV TWEHLV OW·erz tuh VIH·zuht dhuhm
"I spent hours in the library gathering sources for my paper."
ahy SPEHNT OW·erz ihn dhuh LAHY·brair·ee GA·dher·uhng SOR·suhz fer mahy PAY·per
"I studied for hours to prepare for the midterm exam tomorrow."
ahy STUH·deed fer OW·erz tuh pruh·PAIR fer dhuh MIHD·turm uhg·ZAM tuh·MAH·roh
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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 OW — keep everything else short and quick.
ow·ERZ→OW·erz
02
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 "hours" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "OW" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "OW-erz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "hours"?
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 "hours" 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 "OW-erz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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