seventy

IPA /ˈsɛvənti/ Syllables 3 · seh·vuhn·tee Stress 1st syllable
SEH·vuhn·tee
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Americans pronounce seventy as SEH-vuhn-tee (/ˈsɛvənti/). The T drops out of the cluster entirely in casual American speech. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Sounds
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Clarity
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Stress
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Intonation
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Fluency
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Common mistakes

Pronouncing the silent T after N.

In "seventy", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. /t/ is completely silent — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "seventy", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

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Why it sounds different

Why "seventy" sounds like SEH·vuhn·tee.

In "seventy", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. This is called the Silent T after N, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as SEH·vuhn·tee.

In real conversation

Hear "seventy" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"The test has seventy multiple-choice questions."
dhuh TEHST huhz SEH·vuhn·tee MUHL·tuh·puhl CHOYS KWEHS·chuhnz
"The trip will cost around seventy dollars."
dhuh TRIHP wihl kahst uh·ROWND SEH·vuhn·tee DAH·lerz
Same pattern

Words that work the same way.

All of these share phonetic features with this word — same trick.

duh·VEH·luhp·muhntsdevelopmentsihn·VEHST·muhntinvestmentihn·VEHST·muhntsinvestmentsuh·CHEEV·muhntsachievementsSEH·vuhn·TEENseventeenIHN·ter·VEHN·shuhninterventionIHN·ter·VEHN·shuhnzinterventionsTEHN·tuh·tuhv·leetentatively
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 silent T after N.

In "seventy", the "t" right after N is dropped — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound. /t/ is completely silent — the tongue skips the T stop and moves directly from the N position to the next sound.

seventy→SEH·vuhn·tee
02

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "seventy", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

seventy→SEH·vuhn·tee
03

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SEH — keep everything else short and quick.

seh·VUHN·TEE→SEH·vuhn·tee
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.

SEH·VUHN·tee→SEH·vuhn·tee
Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "seventy" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SEH-vuhn-tee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "seventy" 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 "SEH-vuhn-tee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "seventy" 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 "SEH-vuhn-tee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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