oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
How to pronounce okay in American English
oh·KAY
Start here
Americans pronounce okay as oh-KAY (/oʊˈkeɪ/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Bless you! Are you feeling okay?".
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Every sound in "okay".
2 syllables, 3 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
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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 KAY — keep everything else short and quick.
OH·kay→oh·KAY
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "okay" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "KAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "oh-KAY" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "okay" 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 "oh-KAY" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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