p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce pure in American English
PYUUR
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Americans pronounce pure as PYUUR (/pjʊr/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The water is pure" or "I'm sure the poor tour is pure" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "pure".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
y/j/
Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of your mouth, but stop just short of touching. /j/ is an approximant, not a stop. The tongue tip stays down, lightly resting near the back of your bottom front teeth. Voice runs through the whole gesture, and the tongue glides smoothly down into the next vowel. The lips stay neutral or pre-shape for the upcoming vowel (rounding early for OO in <em>youth</em>, for example).
uur/ʊr/
Start with the 'uu' position. Pull the tongue back and up while maintaining the lip flare.
In real conversation
Hear "pure" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Ensure the manure is pure and secure."
uhn·SHUUR dhuh muh·NUUR ihz PYUUR and suh·KYUUR
"I experienced a moment of pure happiness during the ceremony."
ahy uhk·SPEER·ee·uhnst uh MOH·muhnt uhv PYUUR HA·pee·nuhs DUUR·uhng dhuh SEH·ruh·moh·nee
"I'm sure the poor tour is pure."
ahym SHUUR dhuh PUUR TUUR ihz PYUUR
"The pure lure of the moor is sure."
dhuh PYUUR LUUR uhv dhuh MUUR ihz SHUUR
"The water is pure."
dhuh WAH·der ihz PYUUR
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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
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 do I pronounce the R in "pure"?
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 "pure" 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 "PYUUR" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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