m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce mitosis in American English
mahy·TOH·suhs
Start here
Americans pronounce mitosis as mahy-TOH-suhs (/maɪˈtoʊsəs/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Cells divide and replicate through a process called mitosis".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "mitosis".
3 syllables, 7 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.
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.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch TOH — keep everything else short and quick.
MAHY·toh·SUHS→mahy·TOH·suhs
02
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.
mahy·TOH·SUHS→mahy·TOH·suhs
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "mitosis" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "mahy-TOH-suhs" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "mitosis" 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-TOH-suhs" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "mitosis" 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-TOH-suhs" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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