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 old in American English
OHLD
Start here
Americans pronounce old as OHLD (/oʊld/). The L in "old" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as OHLD. You'll hear it in sentences like "Those coats are old" or "Let's find some old photos" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "old" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "old".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "old" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He collects rare and old records."
hee kuh·LEHKTS RAIR and OHLD REH·kerdz
"He restores old furniture found at flea markets."
hee ruh·STORZ OHLD FUR·nuh·cher FOWND uht FLEE MAR·kuhts
"He watched an old film and drank cold milk to relax."
hee WAHCHT uhn OHLD FIHLM uhnd DRANGK KOHLD MIHLK tuh ruh·LAKS
"I donated my old books to a charity shop to make space."
ahy DOH·nay·tuhd mahy OHLD BUUKS tuh uh CHEH·ruh·tee SHAHP tuh MAYK SPAYS
"I felt a wave of nostalgia when I saw my old photos."
ahy FEHLT uh WAYV uhv nah·STAL·juh wehn ahy SAH mahy OHLD FOH·dohz
"Let's find some old photos."
LEHTS FAHYND suhm OHLD FOH·dohz
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Treating every L the same.
The L in "old" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
old→OHLD
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "old", the "d" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
old→OHLD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "old" 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 "OHLD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "old". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.