How to pronounce nutrition in American English

IPA /nuˈtrɪʃən/ Syllables 3 · noo·trih·shuhn Stress 2nd syllable

noo·TRIH·shuhn

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Americans pronounce nutrition as noo-TRIH-shuhn (/nuˈtrɪʃən/). The unstressed syllable reduces to a lazy schwa — almost a quick "uh" — instead of being pronounced fully. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

In "nutrition", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /t/ shifts toward /tʃ/ ("ch"), so TR sounds like "chr".

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "nutrition", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

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Why it sounds different

Why "nutrition" sounds like noo·TRIH·shuhn.

In "nutrition", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. This is called the TR Sounds Like CHR, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as noo·TRIH·shuhn.

In real conversation

Hear "nutrition" in the wild.

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

"He reads the nutrition labels carefully before making a purchase."

hee REEDZ dhuh noo·TRIH·shuhn LAY·buhlz KAIR·fuh·lee buh·FOR MAY·kuhng uh PUR·chuhs

Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

In "nutrition", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /t/ shifts toward /tʃ/ ("ch"), so TR sounds like "chr".

noo-TRIH-shuhn→noo·TRIH·shuhn

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

nutrition→noo·TRIH·shuhn

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch TRIH — keep everything else short and quick.

NOO·trih·SHUHN→noo·TRIH·shuhn

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.

noo·TRIH·SHUHN→noo·TRIH·shuhn

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "nutrition" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TRIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "noo-TRIH-shuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the third syllable in "nutrition" reduce to "uh"?

Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "noo-TRIH-shuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

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

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Why "nutrition" sounds like noo·TRIH·shuhn.

Hear "nutrition" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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