m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce making in American English
MAY·kuhng
Start here
Americans pronounce making as MAY-kuhng (/ˈmeɪkəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Could you please stop making that sound?" or "The orchard grows apples for making juice" — more examples below.
Now you try.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "making".
2 syllables, 5 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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "making" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Could you please stop making that sound?"
kuud yoo PLEEZ STAHP MAY·kuhng dhuht SOWND
"He consulted a financial advisor before making any major investment decisions."
hee kuhn·SUHL·tuhd uh fuh·NAN·shuhl uhd·VAHY·zer buh·FOR MAY·kuhng EH·nee MAY·jer ihn·VEHST·muhnt duh·SIH·zhuhnz
"He reads the nutrition labels carefully before making a purchase."
hee REEDZ dhuh noo·TRIH·shuhn LAY·buhlz KAIR·fuh·lee buh·FOR MAY·kuhng uh PUR·chuhs
"She followed her grandmother's recipe exactly without making any changes."
shee FAH·lohd her GRAN·muh·dherz REH·suh·pee ihg·ZAKT·lee wih·DHOWT MAY·kuhng EH·nee CHAYN·juhz
"She loves cosplaying and making her own costumes for conventions."
shee LUHVZ KAHZ·play·uhng and MAY·kuhng her ohn KAH·stoomz fer kuhn·VEHN·shuhnz
"The dishwasher has been making a strange noise lately."
dhuh DIHSH·wah·sher huhz bihn MAY·kuhng uh STRAYNJ NOYZ LAYT·lee
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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 MAY — keep everything else short and quick.
may·KUHNG→MAY·kuhng
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.
MAY·KUHNG→MAY·kuhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "making" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "MAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "MAY-kuhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "making" 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 "MAY-kuhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "making" 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 "MAY-kuhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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