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.
How to pronounce neighborhood in American English
NAY·ber·huud
Start here
Americans pronounce neighborhood as NAY-ber-huud (/ˈneɪbərˌhʊd/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The noise in the north neighborhood is normal" or "She attended a neighborhood watch meeting to discuss safety" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "neighborhood".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
uu/ʊ/
Bring the corners of your lips in slightly so they push forward, but keep them relaxed. Lift the back of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "neighborhood" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I cannot believe how much the neighborhood has changed recently."
ahy KA·naht buh·LEEV HOW muhch dhuh NAY·ber·huud huhz CHAYNJD REE·suhnt·lee
"She attended a neighborhood watch meeting to discuss safety."
shee uh·TEHN·duhd uh NAY·ber·huud WAHCH MEE·duhng tuh duh·SKUHS SAYF·tee
"The mural on the side of the building brightens up the neighborhood."
dhuh MYOO·ruhl ahn dhuh SAHYD uhv dhuh BIHL·duhng BRAHY·tuhnz UHP dhuh NAY·ber·huud
"The noise in the north neighborhood is normal."
dhuh NOYZ ihn dhuh NORTH NAY·ber·huud ihz NOR·muhl
"The patrol car monitored the neighborhood throughout the night."
dhuh puh·TROHL KAR MAH·nuh·terd dhuh NAY·ber·huud throo·OWT dhuh NAHYT
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "neighborhood", the "d" 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.
neighborhood→NAY·ber·HUUD
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch NAY — keep everything else short and quick.
nay·BER·HUUD→NAY·ber·HUUD
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "neighborhood" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "NAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "NAY-ber-huud" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "neighborhood"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "neighborhood" 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 "NAY-ber-huud" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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