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 suggest in American English
suhg·JEHST
Start here
Americans pronounce suggest as suhg-JEHST (/səgˈdʒɛst/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Suggest a strategic change to the budget" or "I suggest we include a performance guarantee in the contract" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "suggest".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
g/g/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.
j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "suggest" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Consumer confidence indices suggest cautious optimism among households."
kuhn·SOO·mer KAHN·fuh·duhns IHN·duh·seez suhg·JEHST KAH·shuhs AHP·tuh·mih·zuhm uh·MUHNG HOWS·hohldz
"I suggest we divide the tasks among team members to meet the deadline."
ahy suhg·JEHST wee duh·VAHYD dhuh TASKS uh·MUHNG TEEM MEHM·berz tuh MEET dhuh DEHD·lahyn
"I suggest we include a performance guarantee in the contract."
ahy suhg·JEHST wee uhn·KLOOD uh per·FOR·muhns ga·ruhn·TEE ihn dhuh KAHN·trakt
"Public opinion polls suggest a close race between the candidates."
PUH·bluhk uh·PIHN·yuhn POHLZ suhg·JEHST uh KLOHS RAYS buh·TWEEN dhuh KAN·duh·dayts
"Suggest a strategic change to the budget."
suhg·JEHST uh struh·TEE·juhk CHAYNJ tuh dhuh BUH·juht
"I suggest we establish a communication channel for quick updates."
ahy suhg·JEHST wee uh·STA·blihsh uh kuh·myoo·nuh·KAY·shuhn CHA·nuhl fer KWIHK UHP·dayts
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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 "suggest", 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.
suggest→suhg·JEHST
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch JEHST — keep everything else short and quick.
SUHG·jehst→suhg·JEHST
03
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
SUHG·JEHST→suhg·JEHST
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "suggest" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "JEHST" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "suhg-JEHST" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "suggest" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "suhg-JEHST" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "suggest" 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 "suhg-JEHST" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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