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 rented in American English
REHN·tuhd
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Americans pronounce rented as REHN-tuhd (/ˈrɛntəd/). In "rented", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. This is called the Silent T after N, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as REHN·tuhd. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He rented a car for the weekend to visit his family".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "rented".
2 syllables, 6 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.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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
Pronouncing the silent T after N.
In "rented", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. /t/ is completely silent — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound.
rented→REHN·tuhd
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch REHN — keep everything else short and quick.
rehn·TUHD→REHN·tuhd
03
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.
REHN·TUHD→REHN·tuhd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "rented" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "REHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "REHN-tuhd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "rented" 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 "REHN-tuhd" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "rented" 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 "REHN-tuhd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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