h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
How to pronounce hurt in American English
HURT
Start here
Americans pronounce hurt as HURT (/hɜrt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Certainly, the service was worthy of hurt" or "Beck hurt his back while riding a heavy bike" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "hurt".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "hurt" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Beck hurt his back while riding a heavy bike."
BEHK HURT hihz BAK WAHYL RAHY·duhng uh HEH·vee BAHYK
"Certainly, the service was worthy of hurt."
SUR·tuhn·lee dhuh SUR·vuhs wuhz WUR·dhee uhv HURT
"He hurt his knee while jogging and needed to see a doctor."
hee HURT hihz NEE WAHYL JAH·guhng and NEE·duhd tuh SEE uh DAHK·ter
"I did not mean to hurt your feelings and I deeply regret it."
ahy dihd NAHT MEEN tuh HURT yer FEE·luhngz and ahy DEE·plee ruh·GREHT iht
"I realize I hurt you and I feel terrible about it."
ahy REE·uh·lahyz ahy HURT yoo and ahy FEEL TEH·ruh·buhl uh·BOWT iht
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "hurt", the "t" 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.
hurt→HURT
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 do I pronounce the R in "hurt"?
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 "hurt" 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 "HURT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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