How to pronounce sixty in American English

IPA /ˈsɪksti/ Syllables 2 · sihk·stee Stress 1st syllable

SIHK·stee

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Americans pronounce sixty as SIHK-stee (/ˈsɪksti/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

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

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Why it sounds different

Why "sixty" sounds like SIHK·stee.

Between "" and "", a brief "" glide bridges the two vowels for smooth flow. This is called the Vowel-to-Vowel Linking, a tiny act of laziness that makes the rhythm feel right. It comes out as SIHK·stee.

In real conversation

Hear "sixty" in the wild.

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

"The order is for sixty items, correct?"

dhee OR·der ihz fer SIHK·stee AHY·duhmz kuh·REHKT

"The planet orbits the sun once every three hundred and sixty-five days."

dhuh PLA·nuht OR·buhts dhuh SUHN WUHNS EHV·ree THREE HUHN·druhd and SIHK·stee FAHYV DAYZ

"There are sixty seconds in a minute."

DHAIR er SIHK·stee SEH·kuhndz ihn uh MIH·nuht

Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

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

sihk·STEE→SIHK·stee

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "sixty" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SIHK" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SIHK-stee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Is the American pronunciation of "sixty" 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 "SIHK-stee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Why "sixty" sounds like SIHK·stee.

Hear "sixty" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Questions people ask about this.

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