p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce planets in American English
PLA·nuhts
Start here
Americans pronounce planets as PLA-nuhts (/ˈplænəts/). In "planets", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before M/N, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as PLA·nuhts. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Gravity is the force that keeps the planets in orbit" or "She is fascinated by the possibility of colonizing other planets" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "planets".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
l/l/
Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.
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.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
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 "planets" 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
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "planets", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
PLA-nuhts→PLA·nuhts
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PLA — keep everything else short and quick.
pla·NUHTS→PLA·nuhts
03
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.
PLA·NUHTS→PLA·nuhts
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "planets" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PLA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PLA-nuhts" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "planets" 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 "PLA-nuhts" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "planets" 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 "PLA-nuhts" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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