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 north in American English
NORTH
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Americans pronounce north as NORTH (/nɔrθ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "North and South" or "The store is north" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "north".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "north" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"North and South."
NORTH and SOWTH
"Or, explore the north shore for ore."
OR uhk·SPLOR dhuh NORTH SHOR for OR
"The noise in the north neighborhood is normal."
dhuh NOYZ ihn dhuh NORTH NAY·ber·huud ihz NOR·muhl
"The scenery changes dramatically as you drive north."
dhuh SEE·nuh·ree CHAYN·juhz druh·MA·duh·klee uhz yoo DRAHYV NORTH
"The store is north."
dhuh STOR ihz NORTH
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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
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 do I pronounce the R in "north"?
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 "north" 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 "NORTH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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