p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce planting in American English
PLAN·tuhng
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Americans pronounce planting as PLAN-tuhng (/ˈplæntɪŋ/). In "planting", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. This is called the Silent T after N, the kind of sound shift that makes everyday speech feel effortless. It comes out as PLAN·tuhng. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The tractor plowed the field before planting the seeds".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "planting".
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/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
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.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
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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 silent T after N.
In "planting", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. /t/ is completely silent — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound.
planting→PLAN·tuhng
02
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "planting", 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/.
PLAN-tuhng→PLAN·tuhng
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PLAN — keep everything else short and quick.
plan·TUHNG→PLAN·tuhng
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.
PLAN·TUHNG→PLAN·tuhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "planting" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PLAN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PLAN-tuhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "planting" 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 "PLAN-tuhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "planting" 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 "PLAN-tuhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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