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 remember in American English
ruh·MEHM·ber
Start here
Americans pronounce remember as ruh-MEHM-ber (/rəˈmɛmbər/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "You remember my name, don't you?" or "Remember to offer the water to her" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "remember".
3 syllables, 7 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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "remember" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Did you remember to lock the front door?"
dihd yoo ruh·MEHM·ber tuh LAHK dhuh FRUHNT DOR
"Let us take a moment to remember those who could not be here today."
LEHT uhs TAYK uh MOH·muhnt tuh ruh·MEHM·ber dhohz hoo kuud NAHT bee HEER tuh·DAY
"Remember to bring your charger for the trip."
ruh·MEHM·ber tuh BRIHNG yer CHAR·jer fer dhuh trihp
"Remember to log out when you're finished."
ruh·MEHM·ber tuh LAHG OWT wehn yer FIH·nuhsht
"Remember to offer the water to her."
ruh·MEHM·ber tuh AH·fer dhuh WAH·der tuh her
"She used mnemonic devices to remember complex sequences of information."
shee YOOZD nuh·MAH·nuhk duh·VAHY·suhz tuh ruh·MEHM·ber KAHM·plehks SEE·kwuhn·suhz uhv ihn·fer·MAY·shuhn
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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 MEHM — keep everything else short and quick.
RUH·mehm·BER→ruh·MEHM·ber
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·MEHM·ber→ruh·MEHM·ber
03
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 is "remember" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "MEHM" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ruh-MEHM-ber" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "remember" 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-MEHM-ber" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "remember"?
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 "remember" 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-MEHM-ber" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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