uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce immediately in American English
uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
Start here
Americans pronounce immediately as uh-MEE-dee-uht-lee (/əˈmidiətli/). In "immediately", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. So instead of uh·MEE·tee·uht·lee, you get uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He was handcuffed and read his rights immediately" or "The judge issued a warrant for his arrest immediately" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "immediately" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "immediately".
5 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
l/l/
Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "immediately" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He raised a valid concern that we need to address immediately."
hee RAYZD uh VA·luhd kuhn·SURN dhuht wee NEED tuh uh·DREHS uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
"He was handcuffed and read his rights immediately."
hee wuhz HAND·kuhft and REHD hihz RAHYTS uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
"I brush my teeth immediately after finishing my breakfast."
ahy BRUHSH mahy TEETH uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee AF·ter FIH·nih·shuhng mahy BREHK·fuhst
"She reported the hazard to the safety officer immediately."
shee ruh·POR·tuhd dhuh HA·zerd tuh dhuh SAYF·tee AH·fuh·ser uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
"She reported the incident to the authorities immediately."
shee ruh·POR·tuhd dhee IHN·suh·duhnt tuh dhee uh·THOR·uh·teez uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
"The administration announced sweeping policy changes effective immediately."
dhee uhd·mih·nuh·STRAY·shuhn uh·NOWNST SWEE·puhng PAH·luh·see CHAYN·juhz uh·FEHK·tuhv uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
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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 hard "T" in the middle.
In "immediately", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
uh-MEE-tee-uht-lee→uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "immediately", 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.
immediately→uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch MEE — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·mee·DEE·UHT·LEE→uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
04
Pronouncing the first 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.
UH·MEE·dee·uht·lee→uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "immediately" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "MEE" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-MEE-dee-uht-lee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "immediately"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "immediately" sounds closer to "uh-MEE-dee-uht-lee" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the first syllable in "immediately" 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 "uh-MEE-dee-uht-lee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "immediately" 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 "uh-MEE-dee-uht-lee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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