s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce score in American English
SKOR
Start here
Americans pronounce score as SKOR (/skɔr/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The store bore a score of poor chores" or "She kept track of the score using a notepad" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "score".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
In real conversation
Hear "score" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Her perfect score surprised the entire department."
her PUR·fuhkt SKOR ser·PRAHYZD dhee uhn·TAHY·er duh·PART·muhnt
"I was relieved when I saw my score on the difficult exam."
ahy wuhz ruh·LEEVD wehn ahy SAH mahy SKOR ahn dhuh DIH·fuh·kuhlt uhg·ZAM
"She kept track of the score using a notepad."
shee kehpt TRAK uhv dhuh SKOR YOO·zuhng uh NOHT·pad
"The soccer team worked together to score the winning goal."
dhuh SAH·ker TEEM WURKT tuh·GEH·dher tuh SKOR dhuh WIH·nuhng GOHL
"The store bore a score of poor chores."
dhuh STOR BOR uh SKOR uhv POR CHORZ
"She received a high score on the standardized assessment test."
shee ruh·SEEVD uh HAHY SKOR ahn dhuh STAN·der·dahyzd uh·SEH·smuhnt TEHST
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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 "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 do I pronounce the R in "score"?
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 "score" 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 "SKOR" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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