p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce proofread in American English
PROOF·rehd
Start here
Americans pronounce proofread as PROOF-rehd (/ˈprufˌrɛd/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She proofread the final version carefully before turning it in".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "proofread".
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.
oo/u/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
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.
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.
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.
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "proofread", 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.
proofread→PROOF·REHD
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch PROOF — keep everything else short and quick.
proof·REHD→PROOF·REHD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "proofread" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PROOF" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PROOF-rehd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "proofread" 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 "PROOF-rehd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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