How to pronounce nine in American English

IPA /naɪn/ Syllables 1 · nahyn Stress 1st syllable

NAHYN

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Americans pronounce nine as NAHYN (/naɪn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Nine new names" or "Five times nine" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "nine".

1 syllable, 3 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.

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.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "nine" in the wild.

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

"Five times nine."

FAHYV TAHYMZ NAHYN

"Nine new names."

NAHYN noo NAYMZ

"The court was adjourned until the following morning at nine."

dhuh KORT wuhz uh·JURND uhn·TIHL dhuh FAH·loh·uhng MOR·nuhng uht NAHYN

"They called nine-one-one to report a suspicious vehicle in the area."

dhay KAHLD NAHYN wuhn wuhn tuh ruh·PORT uh suh·SPIH·shuhs VEE·uh·kuhl ihn dhee AIR·ee·uh

"Nine minds combined to design the pipeline."

NAHYN MAHYNDZ kuhm·BAHYND tuh duh·ZAHYN dhuh PAHYP·lahyn

"None of the nine nurses knew the name."

NUHN uhv dhuh NAHYN NUR·suhz NOO dhuh NAYM

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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