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 result in American English
ruh·ZUHLT
Start here
Americans pronounce result as ruh-ZUHLT (/rəˈzʌlt/). The L in "result" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as ruh·ZUHLT. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I also want to know the result" or "Wrong road, wrong route, wrong result" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "result".
2 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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
In real conversation
Hear "result" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I also want to know the result."
ahy AHL·soh WAHNT tuh NOH dhuh ruh·ZUHLT
"The result of the exam was pleasantly surprising."
dhuh ruh·ZUHLT uhv dhee uhg·ZAM wuhz PLEH·zuhnt·lee ser·PRAHY·zuhng
"The ultimate result of the struggle was unjust."
dhee UHL·tuh·muht ruh·ZUHLT uhv dhuh STRUH·guhl wuhz uhn·JUHST
"Wrong road, wrong route, wrong result."
RAHNG ROHD RAHNG ROOT RAHNG ruh·ZUHLT
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "result" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
result→ruh·ZUHLT
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "result", the "t" 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.
result→ruh·ZUHLT
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch ZUHLT — keep everything else short and quick.
RUH·zuhlt→ruh·ZUHLT
04
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·ZUHLT→ruh·ZUHLT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "result" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "ZUHLT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ruh-ZUHLT" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "result" 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-ZUHLT" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "result" 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-ZUHLT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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