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 nineteen in American English
nahyn·TEEN
Start here
Americans pronounce nineteen as nahyn-TEEN (/naɪnˈtin/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He was born in nineteen ninety-three" or "There are nineteen students in the class" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "nineteen".
2 syllables, 6 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.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
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 "nineteen" in the wild.
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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 TEEN — keep everything else short and quick.
NAHYN·teen→nahyn·TEEN
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "nineteen" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TEEN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "nahyn-TEEN" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "nineteen" 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-TEEN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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