m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce maintained in American English
mayn·TAYND
Start here
Americans pronounce maintained as mayn-TAYND (/meɪnˈteɪnd/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The ruling party maintained its majority in the recent elections" or "The bailiff maintained order in the courtroom throughout the proceedings" — more examples below.
Now you try.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "maintained".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
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.
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.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "maintained" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"She ensured that all safety equipment was properly maintained and inspected."
shee ehn·SHUURD dhuht AHL SAYF·tee uh·KWIHP·muhnt wuhz PRAH·per·lee mayn·TAYND and uhn·SPEHK·tuhd
"The bailiff maintained order in the courtroom throughout the proceedings."
dhuh BAY·luhf mayn·TAYND OR·der ihn dhuh KORT·room throo·OWT dhuh pruh·SEE·duhngz
"The ruling party maintained its majority in the recent elections."
dhuh ROO·luhng PAR·tee mayn·TAYND ihts muh·JOR·uh·tee ihn dhuh REE·suhnt uh·LEHK·shuhnz
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch TAYND — keep everything else short and quick.
MAYN·taynd→mayn·TAYND
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "maintained" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TAYND" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "mayn-TAYND" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "maintained" 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 "mayn-TAYND" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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