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 smartphones in American English
SMART·fohnz
Start here
Americans pronounce smartphones as SMART-fohnz (/ˈsmɑrtˌfoʊnz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The store sells laptops, tablets, and smartphones".
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Record yourself saying "smartphones" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "smartphones".
2 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
ar/ɑr/
Open wide for the 'ah' vowel. Lift the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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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 "smartphones", the "t" 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.
smartphones→SMART·FOHNZ
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SMART — keep everything else short and quick.
smart·FOHNZ→SMART·FOHNZ
03
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 is "smartphones" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SMART" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SMART-fohnz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "smartphones"?
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 "smartphones" 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 "SMART-fohnz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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