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 section in American English
SEHK·shuhn
Start here
Americans pronounce section as SEHK-shuhn (/ˈsɛkʃən/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The frozen food section always makes me feel cold" or "This section describes the specific system process" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "section".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
n/n/
SyllabicThe schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.
In real conversation
Hear "section" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I barely finished the essay section before time was called."
ahy BAIR·lee FIH·nuhsht dhee EH·say SEHK·shuhn buh·FOR TAHYM wuhz KAHLD
"I bet the heavy metal section is incredibly deafening."
ahy BEHT dhuh HEH·vee MEH·duhl SEHK·shuhn ihz uhn·KREH·duh·blee DEH·fuh·nuhng
"The bakery section smells absolutely wonderful in the mornings."
dhuh BAY·kuh·ree SEHK·shuhn SMEHLZ ab·suh·LOOT·lee WUHN·der·fuhl ihn dhuh MOR·nuhngz
"The discussion section meets once a week on Friday afternoons."
dhuh duh·SKUH·shuhn SEHK·shuhn MEETS WUHNS uh WEEK ahn FRAHY·day a·fter·NOONZ
"The methodology section describes how the experiment was performed."
dhuh meh·thuh·DAH·luh·jee SEHK·shuhn duh·SKRAHYBZ HOW dhee ihk·SPEH·ruh·muhnt wuhz per·FORMD
"The research methodology section describes our experimental approach."
dhuh REE·surch meh·thuh·DAH·luh·jee SEHK·shuhn duh·SKRAHYBZ ar ihk·spair·uh·MEHN·tuhl uh·PROHCH
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "section", the "k" 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.
section→SEHK·shuhn
02
Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.
In "section", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.
section→SEHK·shuhn
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SEHK — keep everything else short and quick.
sehk·SHUHN→SEHK·shuhn
04
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
SEHK·SHUHN→SEHK·shuhn
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "section" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SEHK" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SEHK-shuhn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "section" 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 "SEHK-shuhn" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "section" 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 "SEHK-shuhn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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