p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce prevent in American English
pruh·VEHNT
Start here
Americans pronounce prevent as pruh-VEHNT (/prəˈvɛnt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He put tape on his fingers to prevent blisters" or "The cool-down exercises help prevent muscle soreness" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "prevent".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
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/
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 "prevent" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He attended a workshop on ergonomics to prevent repetitive strain injuries."
hee uh·TEHN·duhd uh WURK·shahp ahn ur·guh·NAH·muhks tuh pruh·VEHNT ruh·PEH·duh·tuhv STRAYN IHN·juh·reez
"He caramelized the sugar slowly to prevent it from burning."
hee KAIR·uh·muh·lahyzd dhuh SHUU·ger SLOH·lee tuh pruh·VEHNT iht fruhm BUR·nuhng
"He put tape on his fingers to prevent blisters."
hee PUUT TAYP ahn hihz FIHNG·gerz tuh pruh·VEHNT BLIH·sterz
"He sealed the grout between the tiles to prevent water damage."
hee SEELD dhuh GROWT buh·TWEEN dhuh TAHYLZ tuh pruh·VEHNT WAH·der DA·muhj
"She advocates for public health policies to prevent disease."
shee AD·vuh·kayts fer PUH·bluhk HEHLTH PAH·luh·seez tuh pruh·VEHNT duh·ZEEZ
"The cool-down exercises help prevent muscle soreness."
dhuh KOOL DOWN EHK·ser·sahy·zuhz HEHLP pruh·VEHNT MUH·suhl SOR·nuhs
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch VEHNT — keep everything else short and quick.
PRUH·vehnt→pruh·VEHNT
02
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
PRUH·VEHNT→pruh·VEHNT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "prevent" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "VEHNT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "pruh-VEHNT" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "prevent" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "pruh-VEHNT" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "prevent" 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 "pruh-VEHNT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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