p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce postponed in American English
pohst·POHND
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Americans pronounce postponed as pohst-POHND (/poʊstˈpoʊnd/). In "postponed", 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 pohst·POHND. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The rain delay caused the match to be postponed" or "The event has been postponed until further notice unfortunately" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "postponed".
2 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
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.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "postponed" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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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 "postponed", 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.
postponed→pohst·POHND
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "postponed", the "d" 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.
postponed→pohst·POHND
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch POHND — keep everything else short and quick.
POHST·pohnd→pohst·POHND
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "postponed" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "POHND" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "pohst-POHND" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "postponed" 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-POHND" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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