How to pronounce sought in American English

IPA /sɑt/ Syllables 1 · saht Stress 1st syllable

SAHT

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Americans pronounce sought as SAHT (/sɑt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The broad audience sought more caught incidents" or "He sought an injunction to stop the construction project" — more examples below.

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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

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "sought", 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.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "sought".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

ah/ɑ/

Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "sought" in the wild.

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

"He sought an injunction to stop the construction project."

hee SAHT uhn ihn·JUHNGK·shuhn tuh STAHP dhuh kuhn·STRUHK·shuhn PRAH·jehkt

"She sought help early when she recognized she was struggling."

shee SAHT HEHLP UR·lee wehn shee REH·kuhg·nahyzd shee wuhz STRUH·gluhng

"The broad audience sought more caught incidents."

dhuh BRAHD AH·dee·uhns SAHT MOR KAHT IHN·suh·duhnts

"She sought damages for the injury she sustained in the accident."

shee SAHT DA·muh·juhz fer dhee IHN·juh·ree shee suh·STAYND ihn dhee AK·suh·duhnt

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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.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "sought", 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.

sought→SAHT

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Every sound in "sought".

Hear "sought" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Questions people ask about this.

Stop reading about "sought". Start saying it.