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 search in American English
SURCH
Start here
Americans pronounce search as SURCH (/sɜrtʃ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I'm not sure where to start the search" or "Search the earth for the perfect perch" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "search" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "search".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
ch/tʃ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'sh' position. Flare your lips.
In real conversation
Hear "search" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He claimed that the search was conducted without a warrant."
hee KLAYMD dhuht dhuh SURCH wuhz kuhn·DUHK·tuhd wih·DHOWT uh WOR·uhnt
"I'm not sure where to start the search."
ahym NAHT SHUUR wair tuh START dhuh SURCH
"Search for the lunch on the porch with the torch."
SURCH fer dhuh LUHNCH ahn dhuh PORCH wihth dhuh TORCH
"Search the earth for the perfect perch."
SURCH dhee URTH fer dhuh PUR·fuhkt PURCH
"The k-9 unit was brought in to search for drugs."
dhuh KAY NAHYN YOO·nuht wuhz BRAHT ihn tuh SURCH fer DRUHGZ
"The warrant authorized the police to search the premises."
dhuh WOR·uhnt AH·thuh·rahyzd dhuh puh·LEES tuh SURCH dhuh PREH·muh·suhz
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 "search"?
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 "search" 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 "SURCH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "search". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.