How to pronounce math in American English

IPA /mæθ/ Syllables 1 · math Stress 1st syllable

MATH

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Americans pronounce math as MATH (/mæθ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Math is healthy" or "I have to study for my math class" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "math".

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.

th/θ/

Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "math" in the wild.

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

"Both math and ethics are worth thinking through."

BOHTH MATH and EH·thuhks er WURTH THIHNG·kuhng throo

"He lost points for not showing his work on the math problems."

hee LAHST POYNTS fer NAHT SHOH·uhng hihz WURK ahn dhuh MATH PRAH·bluhmz

"I have to study for my math class."

ahy hav tuh STUH·dee fer mahy MATH KLAS

"Math is healthy."

MATH ihz HEHL·thee

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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