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 require in American English
ruh·KWAHY·er
Start here
Americans pronounce require as ruh-KWAHY-er (/rəˈkwaɪər/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The school choir will require a new song" or "Succulents are easy to care for and require little water" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "require".
3 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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "require" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"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
"Please feel free to reach out if you require any clarification."
PLEEZ FEEL FREE tuh REECH OWT ihf yoo ruh·KWAHY·er EH·nee klair·uh·fuh·KAY·shuhn
"Succulents are easy to care for and require little water."
SUH·kyuh·luhnts ar EE·zee tuh KAIR fer and ruh·KWAHY·er LIH·duhl WAH·der
"The school choir will require a new song."
dhuh SKOOL KWAHY·er wihl ruh·KWAHY·er uh NOO SAHNG
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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 KWAHY — keep everything else short and quick.
RUH·kwahy·ER→ruh·KWAHY·er
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·KWAHY·er→ruh·KWAHY·er
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 "require" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "KWAHY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ruh-KWAHY-er" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "require" 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-KWAHY-er" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "require"?
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 "require" 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-KWAHY-er" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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