m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce momentum in American English
moh·MEHN·tuhm
Start here
Americans pronounce momentum as moh-MEHN-tuhm (/moʊˈmɛntəm/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Racial justice movements have gained momentum worldwide recently".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "momentum".
3 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
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.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
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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
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "momentum", the short unstressed vowel before "m" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "m" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
momentum→moh·MEHN·tuhm
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch MEHN — keep everything else short and quick.
MOH·mehn·TUHM→moh·MEHN·tuhm
03
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.
moh·MEHN·TUHM→moh·MEHN·tuhm
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "momentum" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "MEHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "moh-MEHN-tuhm" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "momentum" 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 "moh-MEHN-tuhm" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "momentum" 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 "moh-MEHN-tuhm" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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