How to pronounce mean in American English
MEEN
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Americans pronounce mean as MEEN (/min/).
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"I did not mean to hurt your feelings and I deeply regret it."
ahy dihd NAHT MEEN tuh HURT yer FEE·luhngz and ahy DEE·plee ruh·GREHT iht
"I didn't mean to give you the wrong keys."
ahy DIH·duhnt MEEN tuh GIHV yoo dhuh RAHNG KEEZ
"I didn't mean to insult you with my comment."
ahy DIH·duhnt MEEN tuh uhn·SUHLT yoo wihth mahy KAH·muhnt
"You know what I mean, don't you?"
yoo NOH wuht ahy MEEN DOHNT yoo
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "mean" 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 "MEEN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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