How to pronounce post in American English

IPA /poʊst/ Syllables 1 · pohst Stress 1st syllable

POHST

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Americans pronounce post as POHST (/poʊst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I have to go to the post office" or "Most of the post was about the ghost host" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "post".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

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.

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/

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.

In real conversation

Hear "post" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"He works as a film editor in the post-production department."

hee WURKS uhz uh FIHLM EH·duh·der ihn dhuh POHST pruh·DUHK·shuhn duh·PART·muhnt

"I have to go to the post office."

ahy haf tuh GOH tuh dhuh POHST AH·fuhs

"I need to go to the bank, the post office, and the grocery store."

ahy NEED tuh GOH tuh dhuh BANGK dhuh POHST AH·fuhs and dhuh GROH·suh·ree STOR

"I need to go to the post office to mail this package."

ahy NEED tuh GOH tuh dhuh POHST AH·fuhs tuh MAYL dhihs PA·kuhj

"Most of the post was about the ghost host."

MOHST uhv dhuh POHST wuhz uh·BOWT dhuh GOHST HOHST

"The goal post was damaged during the storm."

dhuh GOHL POHST wuhz DA·muhjd DUUR·uhng dhuh STORM

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "post" 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 "POHST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.