How to pronounce lineup in American English

IPA /ˈlaɪnʌp/ Syllables 2 · lahy·nuhp Stress 1st syllable

LAHY·nuhp

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Americans pronounce lineup as LAHY-nuhp (/ˈlaɪnʌp/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The lineup for the game was announced by the coach" or "The victim identified the suspect in a police lineup" — 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

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "lineup", the "p" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

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 "lineup".

2 syllables, 5 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.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

uh/ʌ/

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

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

In real conversation

Hear "lineup" in the wild.

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

"The lineup for the game was announced by the coach."

dhuh LAHY·nuhp fer dhuh GAYM wuhz uh·NOWNST bahy dhuh KOHCH

"The victim identified the suspect in a police lineup."

dhuh VIHK·tuhm ahy·DEHN·tuh·fahyd dhuh SUH·spehkt ihn uh puh·LEES LAHY·nuhp

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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.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "lineup", the "p" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

lineup→LAHY·nuhp

Stressing the wrong syllable.

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

lahy·NUHP→LAHY·nuhp

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·NUHP→LAHY·nuhp

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "lineup" 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-nuhp" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the second syllable in "lineup" 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-nuhp" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

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

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Every sound in "lineup".

Hear "lineup" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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