j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce justify in American English
JUH·stuh·fahy
Start here
Americans pronounce justify as JUH-stuh-fahy (/ˈdʒʌstəˌfaɪ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "International law was invoked to justify the intervention" or "The cost savings alone justify the initial investment required" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "justify".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue 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.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
In real conversation
Hear "justify" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"International law was invoked to justify the intervention."
ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl LAH wuhz uhn·VOHKT tuh JUH·stuh·fahy dhee ihn·ter·VEHN·shuhn
"The cost savings alone justify the initial investment required."
dhuh kahst SAY·vuhngz uh·LOHN JUH·stuh·fahy dhee ih·NIH·shuhl ihn·VEHST·muhnt ruh·KWAHY·erd
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch JUH — keep everything else short and quick.
juh·STUH·FAHY→JUH·stuh·FAHY
02
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.
JUH·STUH·fahy→JUH·stuh·FAHY
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "justify" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "JUH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "JUH-stuh-fahy" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "justify" 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 "JUH-stuh-fahy" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "justify" 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 "JUH-stuh-fahy" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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