h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
How to pronounce hundred in American English
HUHN·druhd
Start here
Americans pronounce hundred as HUHN-druhd (/ˈhʌndrəd/). In "hundred", the "dr" cluster blends into a "jr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. This is called the DR Sounds Like JR, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as HUHN·druhd. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He broke his own personal record in the hundred-meter sprint" or "The bibliography included over one hundred scholarly references" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "hundred".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
d/d/
PalatalizedTongue pulls back slightly from the D position, blending into R. Sounds close to 'jr'.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "hundred" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He broke his own personal record in the hundred-meter sprint."
hee BROHK hihz ohn PUR·suh·nuhl REH·kerd ihn dhuh HUHN·druhd MEE·der SPRIHNT
"I need to preheat the oven to three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit."
ahy NEED tuh pree·HEET dhee UH·vuhn tuh THREE HUHN·druhd FIHF·tee duh·GREEZ FAIR·uhn·hahyt
"The bibliography included over one hundred scholarly references."
dhuh bih·blee·AH·gruh·fee uhn·KLOO·duhd OH·ver wuhn HUHN·druhd SKAH·ler·lee REH·fruhn·suhz
"The planet orbits the sun once every three hundred and sixty-five days."
dhuh PLA·nuht OR·buhts dhuh SUHN WUHNS EHV·ree THREE HUHN·druhd and SIHK·stee FAHYV DAYZ
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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
Saying a clean "dr" instead of a "j" sound.
In "hundred", the "dr" cluster blends into a "jr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /d/ shifts toward /dʒ/ ("j"), so DR sounds like "jr".
HUHN-druhd→HUHN·druhd
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "hundred", the "d" 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.
hundred→HUHN·druhd
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch HUHN — keep everything else short and quick.
huhn·DRUHD→HUHN·druhd
04
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.
HUHN·DRUHD→HUHN·druhd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "hundred" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "HUHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "HUHN-druhd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "hundred" 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 "HUHN-druhd" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "hundred" 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 "HUHN-druhd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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