How to pronounce of in American English

IPA /əv/ Syllables 1 · uhv

uhv

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Americans pronounce of as uhv (/əv/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Bag of eggs" or "A cup of tea" — more examples below.

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Sounds

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Clarity

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Stress

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Intonation

65%

Fluency

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72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

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

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "of".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

v/v/

Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.

In real conversation

Hear "of" in the wild.

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

"A banana is a good source of potassium."

uh buh·NA·nuh ihz uh GUUD SORS uhv puh·TA·see·uhm

"A cup of tea."

uh KUHP uhv TEE

"A healthy vine requires plenty of wet soil."

uh HEHL·thee VAHYN ruh·KWAHYRZ PLEHN·tee uhv WEHT SOYL

"A large bar of chocolate is harsh on the heart."

uh LARJ BAR uhv CHAH·kluht ihz HARSH ahn dhuh HART

"A little apple fell right in the middle of the street."

uh LIH·duhl A·puhl FEHL RAHYT ihn dhuh MIH·duhl uhv dhuh STREET

"A lot of people are waiting."

uh LAHT uhv PEE·puhl er WAY·duhng

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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.

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

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

UHV→uhv

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Every sound in "of".

Hear "of" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

Stop reading about "of". Start saying it.