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 intelligence in American English
ihn·TEH·luh·juhns
Start here
Americans pronounce intelligence as ihn-TEH-luh-juhns (/ɪnˈtɛlədʒəns/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Dolphins are known for their intelligence and playfulness" or "Tech giants are investing heavily in artificial intelligence research" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "intelligence".
4 syllables, 10 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.
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.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "intelligence" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Artificial intelligence algorithms are transforming multiple industries rapidly."
ar·tuh·FIH·shuhl ihn·TEH·luh·juhns AL·guh·rih·dhuhmz er trans·FOR·muhng MUHL·tuh·puhl IHN·duh·streez RA·puhd·lee
"Dolphins are known for their intelligence and playfulness."
DAHL·fuhnz er NOHN fer dhair ihn·TEH·luh·juhns and PLAY·fuhl·nuhs
"Tech giants are investing heavily in artificial intelligence research."
TEHK JAHY·uhnts er ihn·VEH·stuhng HEH·vuh·lee uhn ar·tuh·FIH·shuhl ihn·TEH·luh·juhns REE·surch
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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
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "intelligence", 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.
intelligence→ihn·TEH·luh·juhns
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch TEH — keep everything else short and quick.
IHN·teh·LUH·JUHNS→ihn·TEH·luh·juhns
03
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
ihn·TEH·LUH·juhns→ihn·TEH·luh·juhns
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "intelligence" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ihn-TEH-luh-juhns" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "intelligence" 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 "ihn-TEH-luh-juhns" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "intelligence" 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 "ihn-TEH-luh-juhns" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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