p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce pain in American English
PAYN
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Americans pronounce pain as PAYN (/peɪn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Apply pressure to the point of pain patiently" or "I never intended to cause you any pain or distress" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "pain".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
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.
In real conversation
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "pain" 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 "PAYN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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