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 nutrition in American English
noo·TRIH·shuhn
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Americans pronounce nutrition as noo-TRIH-shuhn (/nuˈtrɪʃən/). 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. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He reads the nutrition labels carefully before making a purchase".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "nutrition".
3 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oo/u/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.
t/t/
PalatalizedTongue pulls back slightly from the T position, blending into R. Sounds close to 'chr'.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
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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
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
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "nutrition", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
nutrition→noo·TRIH·shuhn
03
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
04
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.
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