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 into in American English
IHN·too
Start here
Americans pronounce into as IHN-too (/ˈɪntu/). In "into", 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, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as IHN·too. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "We ran into an old friend yesterday" or "The peninsula juts out into the ocean" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "into".
2 syllables, 4 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.
oo/u/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.
In real conversation
Hear "into" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"A small ball rolled into the deep pool."
uh SMAHL BAHL ROHLD ihn·too dhuh DEEP POOL
"Don't pull the metal pole into the swimming pool."
DOHNT PUUL dhuh MEH·duhl POHL ihn·tuh dhuh SWIH·muhng POOL
"Fashion the cushion into a stylish shape."
FA·shuhn dhuh KUU·shuhn IHN·too uh STAHY·luhsh SHAYP
"He caught a foul ball hit into the stands."
hee KAHT uh FOWL BAHL HIHT IHN·too dhuh STANDZ
"He gathered fallen leaves into a large pile."
hee GA·dherd FAH·luhn LEEVZ IHN·too uh LARJ PAHYL
"I broke down large assignments into smaller manageable tasks."
ahy BROHK DOWN LARJ uh·SAHYN·muhnts ihn·too SMAH·ler MA·nuh·juh·buhl TASKS
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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 "into", 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.
into→IHN·too
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch IHN — keep everything else short and quick.
ihn·TOO→IHN·too
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "into" 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-too" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "into" 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-too" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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