uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce itself in American English
uht·SEHLF
Start here
Americans pronounce itself as uht-SEHLF (/ətˈsɛlf/). The L in "itself" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as uht·SEHLF. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He spotted a seal sunning itself on the rocks".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "itself" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "itself".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Treating every L the same.
The L in "itself" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
itself→uht·SEHLF
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch SEHLF — keep everything else short and quick.
UHT·sehlf→uht·SEHLF
03
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.
UHT·SEHLF→uht·SEHLF
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "itself" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SEHLF" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uht-SEHLF" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "itself" 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 "uht-SEHLF" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "itself" 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 "uht-SEHLF" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "itself". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.