kitten

IPA /ˈkɪʔn/ Syllables 2 · kih·tuhn Stress 1st syllable
KIH·tuhn
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Americans pronounce kitten as KIH-tuhn (/ˈkɪʔn/). The T closes off into a tiny silent pause — a glottal stop — instead of a clean release. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Common mistakes

Releasing the T before the syllabic N.

In "kitten", the "t" before the syllabic nasal becomes a glottal stop — a catch in the throat where the schwa drops and the nasal becomes syllabic. /t/ becomes a glottal stop [ʔ] — a catch in the throat. The schwa in the following syllable is dropped, making the nasal syllabic.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "kitten", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

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Why it sounds different

Why "kitten" sounds like KIH·tuhn.

In "kitten", the "t" before the syllabic nasal becomes a glottal stop — a catch in the throat where the schwa drops and the nasal becomes syllabic. This is called the Glottal T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as KIH·tuhn.

In real conversation

Hear "kitten" in the wild.

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

"It is a pity that the kitten bit the mitten."
iht ihz uh PIH·dee dhuht dhuh KIH·tuhn BIHT dhuh MIH·tuhn
"The kitten is playing with a ball of yarn."
dhuh KIH·tuhn ihz PLAY·uhng wihth uh BAHL uhv YARN
Same pattern

Words that work the same way.

All of these share phonetic features with this word — same trick.

BIH·tuhnbittenHAN·DRIH·tuhnhandwrittenihm·POR·tuhnsimportanceMIH·tuhnmittenRIH·tuhnwrittenKAH·tuhncottonKUR·tuhncurtainKUR·tuhnzcurtains
Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

01

Releasing the T before the syllabic N.

In "kitten", the "t" before the syllabic nasal becomes a glottal stop — a catch in the throat where the schwa drops and the nasal becomes syllabic. /t/ becomes a glottal stop [ʔ] — a catch in the throat. The schwa in the following syllable is dropped, making the nasal syllabic.

KIH-tuhn→KIH·tuhn
02

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "kitten", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

kitten→KIH·tuhn
03

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KIH — keep everything else short and quick.

kih·TUHN→KIH·tuhn
04

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.

KIH·TUHN→KIH·tuhn
Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "kitten" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KIH-tuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the T sound silent in "kitten"?
It isn't fully silent — the T closes off into a tiny throat catch called a glottal stop, then the next sound comes through. The respell "KIH-tuhn" reflects the audible result. Americans use this glottal-stop T whenever a /t/ sits between a stressed vowel and an N (or another /t/-like consonant) at the end of a word.
Why does the second syllable in "kitten" 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 "KIH-tuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "kitten" 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 "KIH-tuhn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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