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 spreadsheet in American English
SPREHD·sheet
Start here
Americans pronounce spreadsheet as SPREHD-sheet (/ˈsprɛdˌʃit/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Please refer to the attached spreadsheet for the detailed breakdown".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "spreadsheet".
2 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
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.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof 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.
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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 "spreadsheet", 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.
spreadsheet→SPREHD·SHEET
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SPREHD — keep everything else short and quick.
sprehd·SHEET→SPREHD·SHEET
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "spreadsheet" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SPREHD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SPREHD-sheet" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "spreadsheet" 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 "SPREHD-sheet" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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