uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce inheritance in American English
uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns
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Americans pronounce inheritance as uhn-HAIR-uh-tuhns (/ənˈhɛrəʔəns/). In "inheritance", 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, the kind of sound shift that makes everyday speech feel effortless. It comes out as uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The inheritance was divided equally among the three siblings".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "inheritance".
4 syllables, 9 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.
h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
air/ɛr/
Start with the 'eh' vowel mouth position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
t/t/
GlottalStop the air at your vocal cords (like the catch in 'uh-oh'). Your tongue doesn't need to touch the roof.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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 "inheritance", 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.
uhn-HAIR-uh-tuhns→uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "inheritance", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
inheritance→uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch HAIR — keep everything else short and quick.
UHN·hair·UH·TUHNS→uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns
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.
UHN·HAIR·uh·tuhns→uhn·HAIR·uh·tuhns
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "inheritance" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "HAIR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uhn-HAIR-uh-tuhns" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the T sound silent in "inheritance"?
It isn't fully silent — the T closes off into a tiny throat catch called a glottal stop, then the next sound comes through. The respell "uhn-HAIR-uh-tuhns" reflects the audible result. Americans use this glottal-stop T whenever a /t/ sits between a stressed vowel and an N (or another /t/-like consonant) at the end of a word.
Why does the first syllable in "inheritance" 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-HAIR-uh-tuhns" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "inheritance"?
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.
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