p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce primary in American English
PRAHY·meh·ree
Start here
Americans pronounce primary as PRAHY-meh-ree (/ˈpraɪˌmɛri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Solid, liquid, and gas are the three primary states of matter" or "The assignment required analyzing a primary historical document" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "primary".
3 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.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
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.
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.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "primary" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Solid, liquid, and gas are the three primary states of matter."
SAH·luhd LIH·kwuhd and GAS er dhuh THREE PRAHY·meh·ree STAYTS uhv MA·der
"The assignment required analyzing a primary historical document."
dhee uh·SAHYN·muhnt ruh·KWAHY·erd A·nuh·lahy·zuhng uh PRAHY·meh·ree huh·STOR·uh·kuhl DAH·kyuh·muhnt
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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 first syllable, not the others. Stretch PRAHY — keep everything else short and quick.
prahy·MEH·REE→PRAHY·MEH·ree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "primary" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PRAHY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PRAHY-meh-ree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "primary" 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 "PRAHY-meh-ree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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