ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
How to pronounce inappropriate in American English
ih·nuh·PROH·pree·uht
Start here
Americans pronounce inappropriate as ih-nuh-PROH-pree-uht (/ˌɪnəˈproʊpriət/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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Every sound in "inappropriate".
5 syllables, 11 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
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.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
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.
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.
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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 third syllable, not the others. Stretch PROH — keep everything else short and quick.
IH·NUH·proh·PREE·UHT→IH·nuh·PROH·pree·uht
02
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.
ih·NUH·PROH·pree·uht→IH·nuh·PROH·pree·uht
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "inappropriate" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "PROH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ih-nuh-PROH-pree-uht" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "inappropriate" 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 "ih-nuh-PROH-pree-uht" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "inappropriate" 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 "ih-nuh-PROH-pree-uht" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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