p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce prior in American English
PRAHY·er
Start here
Americans pronounce prior as PRAHY-er (/ˈpraɪər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I am afraid I need to postpone our dinner due to a prior commitment".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "prior".
2 syllables, 4 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.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
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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·ER→PRAHY·er
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "prior" 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-er" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "prior"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "prior" 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-er" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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