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 intimate in American English
IHN·tuh·muht
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Americans pronounce intimate as IHN-tuh-muht (/ˈɪntəmət/). In "intimate", 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, the kind of sound shift that makes everyday speech feel effortless. It comes out as IHN·tuh·muht. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The acoustic version of the song sounds very intimate and raw".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "intimate".
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
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
Pronouncing the silent T after N.
In "intimate", 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.
intimate→IHN·tuh·muht
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch IHN — keep everything else short and quick.
ihn·TUH·MUHT→IHN·tuh·muht
03
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.
IHN·TUH·muht→IHN·tuh·muht
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "intimate" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "IHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "IHN-tuh-muht" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "intimate" 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-tuh-muht" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "intimate" 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-tuh-muht" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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