How to pronounce hungry in American English
HUHNG·gree
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Americans pronounce hungry as HUHNG-gree (/ˈhʌŋgri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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In real conversation
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"Not a single kernel was left by the hungry colonel."
NAHT uh SIHNG·guhl KUR·nuhl wuhz LEHFT bahy dhuh HUHNG·gree KUR·nuhl
"Perhaps the hero can help the hungry horse."
per·HAPS dhuh HEER·oh kuhn HEHLP dhuh HUHNG·gree HORS
"The hungry hunter dug a dozen holes in the dust."
dhuh HUHNG·gree HUHN·ter DUHG uh DUH·zuhn HOHLZ ihn dhuh DUHST
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 HUHNG — keep everything else short and quick.
huhng·GREE→HUHNG·gree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "hungry" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "HUHNG" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "HUHNG-gree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "hungry" 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 "HUHNG-gree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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