How to pronounce new in American English

IPA /nu/ Syllables 1 · noo

noo

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Americans pronounce new as noo (/nu/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Happy New Year" or "Nine new names" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "new".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

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.

oo/u/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.

In real conversation

Hear "new" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"A few new students argued about the music."

uh FYOO noo STOO·duhnts AR·gyood uh·BOWT dhuh MYOO·zuhk

"Apparently, the new restaurant downtown has received excellent reviews."

uh·PEH·ruhnt·lee dhuh noo REH·stuh·rahnt down·TOWN huhz ruh·SEEVD EHK·suh·luhnt ruh·VYOOZ

"Can you help me set up this new printer?"

kuhn yoo HEHLP mee SEHT UHP dhihs noo PRIHN·ter

"Choose a new shoe."

CHOOZ uh noo shoo

"Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the new law."

SIH·vuhl LIH·ber·teez GROOPS huhv RAYZD kuhn·SURNZ uh·BOWT dhuh noo LAH

"Could you introduce me to your new colleague?"

kuud yoo ihn·truh·DOOS mee tuh yor noo KAH·leeg

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "new" 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 "noo" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.