p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce pair in American English
PAIR
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Americans pronounce pair as PAIR (/pɛr/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Where is the pair of shoes?" or "Dare to wear the pair of flares" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "pair".
1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
air/ɛr/
Start with the 'eh' vowel mouth position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
In real conversation
Hear "pair" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Dare to wear the pair of flares."
DAIR tuh WAIR dhuh PAIR uhv FLAIRZ
"He needs to buy a new pair of cleats for soccer."
hee NEEDZ tuh BAHY uh noo PAIR uhv KLEETS fer SAH·ker
"He's wearing a new pair of headphones."
heez WAIR·uhng uh noo PAIR uhv HEHD·fohnz
"I need to buy a new pair of running shoes."
ahy NEED tuh BAHY uh noo PAIR uhv RUH·nuhng SHOOZ
"I need to get a new pair of glasses."
ahy NEED tuh GEHT uh noo PAIR uhv GLA·suhz
"I packed a shirt, a pair of pants, and my toothbrush."
ahy PAKT uh SHURT uh PAIR uhv PANTS and mahy TOOTH·bruhsh
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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
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "pair"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "pair" 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 "PAIR" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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