p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce points in American English
POYNTS
Start here
Americans pronounce points as POYNTS (/pɔɪnts/). In "points", 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, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as POYNTS. You'll hear it in sentences like "The team with the most points at the end wins" or "The judge deducted points for the shaky landing" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "points" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "points".
1 syllable, 5 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oy/ɔɪ/
Start with rounded lips and tongue shifted back. Glide to relaxed lips with the tongue arching forward and up.
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.
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 "points" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Allow me to summarize the main points we have covered today."
uh·LOW mee tuh SUH·muh·rahyz dhuh MAYN POYNTS wee huhv KUH·verd tuh·DAY
"Could you please summarize the key points from our discussion?"
kuud yoo PLEEZ SUH·muh·rahyz dhuh KEE POYNTS fruhm owr duh·SKUH·shuhn
"He lost points for not showing his work on the math problems."
hee LAHST POYNTS fer NAHT SHOH·uhng hihz WURK ahn dhuh MATH PRAH·bluhmz
"He raised some valid points that deserve further consideration."
hee RAYZD suhm VA·luhd POYNTS dhuht duh·ZURV FUR·dher kuhn·sih·der·AY·shuhn
"I highlighted key points while reading to identify important concepts."
ahy HAHY·lahy·duhd KEE POYNTS WAHYL REE·duhng tuh ahy·DEHN·tuh·fahy uhm·POR·tuhnt KAHN·sehpts
"The abstract summarized the main points of the entire paper."
dhee AB·strakt SUH·muh·rahyzd dhuh MAYN POYNTS uhv dhee uhn·TAHY·er PAY·per
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
Pronouncing the T in a consonant cluster.
In "points", 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.
points→POYNTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "points" 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 "POYNTS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "points". 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.