p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce partnerships in American English
PART·ner·shihps
Start here
Americans pronounce partnerships as PART-ner-shihps (/ˈpɑrtnərˌʃɪps/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Global partnerships are essential for addressing climate change effectively".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "partnerships".
3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ar/ɑr/
Open wide for the 'ah' vowel. Lift the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
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.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "partnerships" in the wild.
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "partnerships", the "p" 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.
partnerships→PART·ner·SHIHPS
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PART — keep everything else short and quick.
part·NER·SHIHPS→PART·ner·SHIHPS
03
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 is "partnerships" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PART" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PART-ner-shihps" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "partnerships"?
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 "partnerships" 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 "PART-ner-shihps" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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