How to pronounce license in American English

IPA /ˈlaɪsəns/ Syllables 2 · lahy·suhns Stress 1st syllable

LAHY·suhns

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Americans pronounce license as LAHY-suhns (/ˈlaɪsəns/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Do you have your driving license with you?" or "I renewed my driver's license at the motor vehicle office" — more examples below.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

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

Stressing the wrong syllable.

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

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "license".

2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

l/l/

Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.

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.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

n/n/

Syllabic

The schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "license" in the wild.

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

"Do you have your driving license with you?"

doo yuh hav yer DRAHY·vuhng LAHY·suhns wihth yoo

"He was asked to show his driver's license and registration."

hee wuhz ASKT tuh SHOH hihz DRAHY·verz LAHY·suhns and reh·juh·STRAY·shuhn

"I renewed my driver's license at the motor vehicle office."

ahy ruh·NOOD mahy DRAHY·verz LAHY·suhns uht dhuh MOH·der VEE·uh·kuhl AH·fuhs

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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.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

license→LAHY·suhns

Stressing the wrong syllable.

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

lahy·SUHNS→LAHY·suhns

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.

LAHY·SUHNS→LAHY·suhns

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "license" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the first syllable — say "LAHY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "LAHY-suhns" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the second syllable in "license" 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 "LAHY-suhns" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

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

Now you try.

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Every sound in "license".

Hear "license" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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