uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce increased in American English
uhn·KREEST
Start here
Americans pronounce increased as uhn-KREEST (/ənˈkrist/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The bus fare increased by fifty cents starting this month" or "Solar and wind power installations have increased exponentially" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "increased".
2 syllables, 7 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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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 "increased" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Cybersecurity threats have increased significantly in recent years."
sahy·ber·suh·KYUUR·uh·tee THREHTS huhv uhn·KREEST suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee ihn REE·suhnt YEERZ
"Foreign investment in the technology sector has increased dramatically."
FOR·uhn ihn·VEHST·muhnt ihn dhuh tehk·NAH·luh·jee SEHK·ter huhz uhn·KREEST druh·MA·duh·klee
"Mental health awareness has increased significantly in recent years."
MEHN·tuhl HEHLTH uh·WAIR·nuhs huhz uhn·KREEST suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee uhn REE·suhnt YEERZ
"Political polarization has increased dramatically in recent years."
puh·LIH·duh·kuhl poh·luh·ruh·ZAY·shuhn huhz uhn·KREEST druh·MA·duh·klee ihn REE·suhnt YEERZ
"Solar and wind power installations have increased exponentially."
SOH·ler and WIHND POW·er ihn·stuh·LAY·shuhnz huhv uhn·KREEST ehk·spuh·NEHN·shuh·lee
"The bus fare increased by fifty cents starting this month."
dhuh BUHS FAIR uhn·KREEST bahy FIHF·tee SEHNTS STAR·tuhng dhihs muhnth
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch KREEST — keep everything else short and quick.
UHN·kreest→uhn·KREEST
02
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.
UHN·KREEST→uhn·KREEST
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "increased" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "KREEST" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uhn-KREEST" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "increased" 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 "uhn-KREEST" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "increased" 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 "uhn-KREEST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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