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 response in American English
ruh·SPAHNS
Start here
Americans pronounce response as ruh-SPAHNS (/rəˈspɑns/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry" or "The refugee crisis requires a coordinated international response" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "response".
2 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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "response" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"International sanctions were imposed in response to the violations."
ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl SANGK·shuhnz wer ihm·POHZD ihn ruh·SPAHNS tuh dhuh vahy·uh·LAY·shuhnz
"Thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry."
THANGK yoo fer yer PRAHMPT ruh·SPAHNS tuh mahy ihn·KWAHY·ree
"The refugee crisis requires a coordinated international response."
dhuh reh·fyoo·JEE KRAHY·suhs ruh·KWAHYRZ uh koh·OR·duh·nay·duhd ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl ruh·SPAHNS
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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 SPAHNS — keep everything else short and quick.
RUH·spahns→ruh·SPAHNS
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·SPAHNS→ruh·SPAHNS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "response" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SPAHNS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ruh-SPAHNS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "response" 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-SPAHNS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "response" 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-SPAHNS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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