p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce produce in American English
PROH·doos
Start here
Americans pronounce produce as PROH-doos (/ˈproʊdus/). In "produce", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. So instead of PROH·toos, you get PROH·doos. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "All of this produce is grown locally" or "He sells his produce at the weekly farmers market" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "produce".
2 syllables, 6 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.
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.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
oo/u/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "produce" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"All of this produce is grown locally."
AHL uhv dhihs PROH·doos ihz GROHN LOH·kuh·lee
"Could you grab some organic vegetables from the produce aisle?"
kuud yoo GRAB suhm or·GA·nuhk VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz fruhm dhuh PROH·doos AHYL
"He sells his produce at the weekly farmers market."
hee SEHLZ hihz PROH·doos uht dhuh WEE·klee FAR·merz MAR·kuht
"She buys locally grown produce to support sustainable agriculture."
shee BAHYZ LOH·kuh·lee GROHN PROH·doos tuh suh·PORT suh·STAY·nuh·buhl A·gruh·kuhl·cher
"The experiment failed to produce the expected results."
dhee ihk·SPEH·ruh·muhnt FAYLD tuh pruh·DOOS dhee uhk·spehk·tuhd ruh·ZUHLTS
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "produce", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
PROH-toos→PROH·doos
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PROH — keep everything else short and quick.
proh·DOOS→PROH·doos
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "produce" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PROH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PROH-doos" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "produce"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "produce" sounds closer to "PROH-doos" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Is the American pronunciation of "produce" 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 "PROH-doos" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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