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.
How to pronounce received in American English
ruh·SEEVD
Start here
Americans pronounce received as ruh-SEEVD (/rəˈsivd/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Her performance received a great review" or "She received a summons to appear for jury duty" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "received".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "received" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Apparently, the new restaurant downtown has received excellent reviews."
uh·PEH·ruhnt·lee dhuh noo REH·stuh·rahnt down·TOWN huhz ruh·SEEVD EHK·suh·luhnt ruh·VYOOZ
"He received a grant to fund his research project on renewable energy."
hee ruh·SEEVD uh GRANT tuh FUHND hihz REE·surch PRAH·jehkt ahn ruh·NOO·uh·buhl EH·ner·jee
"He received a parking ticket for exceeding the time limit."
hee ruh·SEEVD uh PAR·kuhng TIH·kuht fer uhk·SEE·duhng dhuh TAHYM LIH·muht
"He received a parking ticket for parking in a loading zone."
hee ruh·SEEVD uh PAR·kuhng TIH·kuht fer PAR·kuhng ihn uh LOH·duhng ZOHN
"He received training on proper lifting techniques to prevent injuries."
hee ruh·SEEVD TRAY·nuhng ahn PRAH·per LIHF·tuhng tehk·NEEKS tuh pruh·VEHNT IHN·juh·reez
"Her performance received a great review."
her per·FOR·muhns ruh·SEEVD uh GRAYT ruh·VYOO
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch SEEVD — keep everything else short and quick.
RUH·seevd→ruh·SEEVD
02
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
RUH·SEEVD→ruh·SEEVD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "received" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SEEVD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ruh-SEEVD" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "received" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "ruh-SEEVD" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "received" 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 "ruh-SEEVD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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