p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce plateau in American English
pla·TOH
Start here
Americans pronounce plateau as pla-TOH (/plæˈtoʊ/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "A plateau is a high, flat area of land".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "plateau" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "plateau".
2 syllables, 5 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.
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.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch TOH — keep everything else short and quick.
PLA·toh→pla·TOH
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "plateau" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TOH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "pla-TOH" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "plateau" 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-TOH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "plateau". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.