m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce marked in American English
MARKT
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Americans pronounce marked as MARKT (/mɑrkt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The closing ceremony marked the end of the games" or "The exhibit was marked and entered into evidence" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "marked".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ar/ɑr/
Open wide for the 'ah' vowel. Lift the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "marked" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"The closing ceremony marked the end of the games."
dhuh KLOH·zuhng SEH·ruh·moh·nee MARKT dhee EHND uhv dhuh GAYMZ
"The exhibit was marked and entered into evidence."
dhee ihg·ZIH·buht wuhz MARKT and EHN·terd IHN·too EH·vuh·duhns
"The fire exits are clearly marked on the evacuation map posted here."
dhuh FAHY·er EHG·zuhts er KLEER·lee MARKT ahn dhee uh·va·kyoo·AY·shuhn MAP POH·stuhd HEER
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "marked", the "t" 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.
marked→MARKT
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "marked"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "marked" 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 "MARKT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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