How to pronounce judge in American English

IPA /dʒʌdʒ/ Syllables 1 · juhj Stress 1st syllable

JUHJ

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Americans pronounce judge as JUHJ (/dʒʌdʒ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Judge the joke" or "The judge jailed the jealous jailbird" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "judge".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

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.

j/dʒ/

Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.

In real conversation

Hear "judge" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Does the judge have enough money for lunch?"

duhz dhuh JUHJ hav uh·NUHF MUH·nee fer LUHNCH

"Judge the joke."

JUHJ dhuh JOHK

"The judge declared a mistrial due to a procedural error."

dhuh JUHJ duh·KLAIRD uh MIH·strahy·uhl DOO tuh uh pruh·SEE·jer·uhl AIR·er

"The judge deducted points for the shaky landing."

dhuh JUHJ duh·DUHK·tuhd POYNTS fer dhuh SHAY·kee LAN·duhng

"The judge issued a warrant for his arrest immediately."

dhuh JUHJ IH·shood uh WOR·uhnt fer hihz uh·REHST uh·MEE·dee·uht·lee

"The judge jailed the jealous jailbird."

dhuh JUHJ JAYLD dhuh JEH·luhs JAYL·burd

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "judge" 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 "JUHJ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.