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 several in American English
SEHV·ruhl
Start here
Americans pronounce several as SEHV-ruhl (/ˈsɛvrəl/). The L in "several" 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 one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as SEHV·ruhl. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I have to complete several tasks today" or "The cricket match lasted for several days" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "several".
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.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "several" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Autonomous vehicles are being tested in several major cities."
ah·TAH·nuh·muhs VEE·uh·kuhlz er BEE·uhng TEH·stuhd uhn SEHV·ruhl MAY·jer SIH·deez
"He compared several health insurance plans before choosing one."
hee kuhm·PAIRD SEH·ver·uhl HEHLTH ihn·SHUUR·uhns PLANZ buh·FOR CHOO·zuhng wuhn
"He has a criminal record that dates back several years."
hee huhz uh KRIH·muh·nuhl REH·kerd dhuht DAYTS BAK SEHV·ruhl YEERZ
"I have to complete several tasks today."
ahy hav tuh kuhm·PLEET SEHV·ruhl TASKS tuh·DAY
"Several guests recommended the lemon zest recipe."
SEH·ver·uhl GEHSTS reh·kuh·MEHN·duhd dhuh LEH·muhn ZEHST REH·suh·pee
"She brought up several important issues that had been overlooked."
shee BRAHT UHP SEH·ver·uhl uhm·POR·tuhnt IH·shooz dhuht huhd bihn oh·ver·LUUKT
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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 "several" 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.
several→SEHV·ruhl
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SEHV — keep everything else short and quick.
sehv·RUHL→SEHV·ruhl
03
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.
SEHV·RUHL→SEHV·ruhl
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "several" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SEHV" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SEHV-ruhl" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "several" 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 "SEHV-ruhl" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "several" 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 "SEHV-ruhl" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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