p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce patent in American English
PA·tuhnt
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Americans pronounce patent as PA-tuhnt (/ˈpæʔənt/). In "patent", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as PA·tuhnt. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He was accused of patent infringement by a competitor" or "The patent application describes the invention in detail" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "patent".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
t/t/
GlottalStop the air at your vocal cords (like the catch in 'uh-oh'). Your tongue doesn't need to touch the roof.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "patent" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "patent", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
PA-tuhnt→PA·tuhnt
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "patent", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
patent→PA·tuhnt
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PA — keep everything else short and quick.
pa·TUHNT→PA·tuhnt
04
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
PA·TUHNT→PA·tuhnt
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "patent" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PA-tuhnt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the T sound silent in "patent"?
It isn't fully silent — the T closes off into a tiny throat catch called a glottal stop, then the next sound comes through. The respell "PA-tuhnt" reflects the audible result. Americans use this glottal-stop T whenever a /t/ sits between a stressed vowel and an N (or another /t/-like consonant) at the end of a word.
Why does the second syllable in "patent" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "PA-tuhnt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "patent" 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 "PA-tuhnt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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