m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce migrate in American English
MAHY·grayt
Start here
Americans pronounce migrate as MAHY-grayt (/ˈmaɪˌgreɪt/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Whales migrate thousands of miles every year to breed" or "Birds migrate south for the winter to find warmer weather" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "migrate" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "migrate".
2 syllables, 6 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.
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.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
In real conversation
Hear "migrate" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "migrate", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
migrate→MAHY·GRAYT
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch MAHY — keep everything else short and quick.
mahy·GRAYT→MAHY·GRAYT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "migrate" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "MAHY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "MAHY-grayt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "migrate" 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-grayt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "migrate". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.