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 regulations in American English
rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
Start here
Americans pronounce regulations as rehg-yuh-LAY-shuhnz (/ˌrɛgjəˈleɪʃənz/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She read the rulebook to understand the regulations better" or "Data privacy concerns have led to stricter regulations globally" — more examples below.
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Record yourself saying "regulations" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "regulations".
4 syllables, 11 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
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).
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
l/l/
SyllabicThe schwa before L disappears — L becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to a Dark L.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "regulations" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Air quality improvements have resulted from stricter regulations."
AIR KWAH·luh·tee uhm·PROOV·muhnts huhv ruh·ZUHL·tuhd fruhm STRIHK·ter rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
"Data privacy concerns have led to stricter regulations globally."
DAY·duh PRAHY·vuh·see kuhn·SURNZ hav LEHD tuh STRIHK·ter rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz GLOH·buh·lee
"Financial regulations were tightened following the banking crisis."
fuh·NAN·shuhl rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz wer TAHY·duhnd FAH·loh·uhng dhuh BANG·kuhng KRAHY·suhs
"OSHA regulations require certain safety measures in manufacturing facilities."
OH·shuh rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz ruh·KWAHY·er SUR·tuhn SAYF·tee MEH·zherz ihn ma·nyoo·FAK·cher·uhng fuh·SIH·luh·teez
"She read the rulebook to understand the regulations better."
shee REHD dhuh ROOL·buuk tuh uhn·der·STAND dhuh rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz BEH·der
"We conduct regular inspections to ensure compliance with safety regulations."
wee kuhn·DUHKT REH·gyuh·ler ihn·SPEHK·shuhnz tuh uhn·SHUUR kuhm·PLAHY·uhns wihth SAYF·tee rehg·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
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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 "regulations", the "g" 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.
regulations→REHG·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "regulations", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
regulations→REHG·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch LAY — keep everything else short and quick.
REHG·YUH·lay·SHUHNZ→REHG·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
04
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
rehg·YUH·LAY·shuhnz→REHG·yuh·LAY·shuhnz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "regulations" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "LAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "rehg-yuh-LAY-shuhnz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "regulations" 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 "rehg-yuh-LAY-shuhnz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "regulations" 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 "rehg-yuh-LAY-shuhnz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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