m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce microgravity in American English
mahy·kroh·GRA·vuh·tee
Start here
Americans pronounce microgravity as mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee (/ˌmaɪkroʊˈgrævəɾi/). In "microgravity", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, the kind of sound shift that makes everyday speech feel effortless. It comes out as MAHY·kroh·GRA·vuh·tee. Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The astronauts conducted experiments in microgravity".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "microgravity".
5 syllables, 12 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
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.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
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.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
t/t/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Don't stop the airflow — just a quick tap.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "microgravity", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee→MAHY·kroh·GRA·vuh·tee
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch GRA — keep everything else short and quick.
MAHY·KROH·gra·VUH·TEE→MAHY·kroh·GRA·vuh·tee
03
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the third syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
mahy·kroh·GRA·VUH·tee→MAHY·kroh·GRA·vuh·tee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "microgravity" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "GRA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "microgravity"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "microgravity" sounds closer to "mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the fourth syllable in "microgravity" 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 "mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "microgravity" 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 "mahy-kroh-GRA-vuh-tee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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