How to pronounce strain in American English

IPA /streɪn/ Syllables 1 · strayn Stress 1st syllable

STRAYN

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Americans pronounce strain as STRAYN (/streɪn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He attended a workshop on ergonomics to prevent repetitive strain injuries".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "strain".

1 syllable, 5 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.

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.

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.

ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "strain" in the wild.

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

"He attended a workshop on ergonomics to prevent repetitive strain injuries."

hee uh·TEHN·duhd uh WURK·shahp ahn ur·guh·NAH·muhks tuh pruh·VEHNT ruh·PEH·duh·tuhv STRAYN IHN·juh·reez

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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