m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce memo in American English
MEH·moh
Start here
Americans pronounce memo as MEH-moh (/ˈmɛmoʊ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Many members missed the Monday morning memo".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "memo".
2 syllables, 4 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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch MEH — keep everything else short and quick.
meh·MOH→MEH·moh
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "memo" 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-moh" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "memo" 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-moh" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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