How to pronounce match in American English

IPA /mætʃ/ Syllables 1 · mach Stress 1st syllable

MACH

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Americans pronounce match as MACH (/mætʃ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "We had so much fun watching the match" or "The cricket match lasted for several days" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "match".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

ch/tʃ/

Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'sh' position. Flare your lips.

In real conversation

Hear "match" in the wild.

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

"Catch the match before the snatch thief runs."

KACH dhuh MACH buh·FOR dhuh SNACH THEEF RUHNZ

"He cheered for the underdog to win the boxing match."

hee CHEERD fer dhee UHN·der·dahg tuh WIHN dhuh BAHK·suhng MACH

"He was benched for unsportsmanlike conduct during the match."

hee wuhz BEHNCHT fer uhn·SPORTS·muhn·lahyk KAHN·duhkt DUUR·uhng dhuh MACH

"The match ended in a draw after ninety minutes of play."

dhuh MACH EHN·duhd ihn uh DRAH AF·ter NAHYN·dee MIH·nuhts uhv PLAY

"We had so much fun watching the match."

wee had SOH muhch FUHN WAH·chuhng dhuh MACH

"The rain delay caused the match to be postponed."

dhuh RAYN duh·LAY KAHZD dhuh MACH tuh bee pohst·POHND

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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