m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce measurements in American English
MEH·zher·muhnts
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Americans pronounce measurements as MEH-zher-muhnts (/ˈmɛʒərmənts/). In "measurements", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. This is called the Silent T in Clusters, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. It comes out as MEH·zher·muhnts. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Measurements of ocean temperature help track climate change".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "measurements".
3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
zh/ʒ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Add vocal cord vibration.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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
Pronouncing the T in a consonant cluster.
In "measurements", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. /t/ is dropped entirely — the surrounding consonants flow together without the T.
measurements→MEH·zher·muhnts
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "measurements", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
measurements→MEH·zher·muhnts
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch MEH — keep everything else short and quick.
meh·ZHER·MUHNTS→MEH·zher·muhnts
04
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
MEH·zher·MUHNTS→MEH·zher·muhnts
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "measurements" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "MEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "MEH-zher-muhnts" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "measurements" 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 "MEH-zher-muhnts" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "measurements"?
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 "measurements" 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 "MEH-zher-muhnts" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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