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 interfered in American English
ihn·ter·FEERD
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Americans pronounce interfered as ihn-ter-FEERD (/ˌɪntərˈfɪrd/). In "interfered", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. This is called the Silent T after N, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as IHN·ter·FEERD. Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The engineer interfered with the sphere".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "interfered".
3 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.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
eer/ɪr/
Start with the high 'ih' position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips slightly.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
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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
Pronouncing the silent T after N.
In "interfered", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. /t/ is completely silent — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound.
interfered→IHN·ter·FEERD
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "interfered", the "d" 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.
interfered→IHN·ter·FEERD
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch FEERD — keep everything else short and quick.
IHN·TER·feerd→IHN·ter·FEERD
04
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "interfered" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "FEERD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ihn-ter-FEERD" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "interfered"?
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.
Is the American pronunciation of "interfered" 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-ter-FEERD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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