p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce podcasts in American English
PAHD·kasts
Start here
Americans pronounce podcasts as PAHD-kasts (/ˈpɑdˌkæsts/). In "podcasts", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. This is called the Silent T in Clusters, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as PAHD·KASTS. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He listens to podcasts and watches movies in the target language".
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "podcasts" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "podcasts".
2 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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 T in a consonant cluster.
In "podcasts", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. /t/ is dropped entirely — the surrounding consonants flow together without the T.
podcasts→PAHD·KASTS
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "podcasts", the "t" 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.
podcasts→PAHD·KASTS
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PAHD — keep everything else short and quick.
pahd·KASTS→PAHD·KASTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "podcasts" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PAHD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PAHD-kasts" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "podcasts" 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 "PAHD-kasts" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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