How to pronounce sun in American English

IPA /sʌn/ Syllables 1 · suhn Stress 1st syllable
SUHN
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Americans pronounce sun as SUHN (/sʌn/).

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Why it sounds different

Why "sun" sounds like SUHN.

The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, a tiny act of laziness that makes the rhythm feel right. It comes out as SUHN.

In real conversation

Hear "sun" in the wild.

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

"He sat on the wet seat until the sun set."
hee SAT ahn dhuh WEHT SEET uhn·TIHL dhuh SUHN SEHT
"I love the sun."
ahy LUHV dhuh SUHN
"Nuclear fusion powers the sun and other stars."
NOO·klee·er FYOO·zhuhn POW·erz dhuh SUHN and UH·dher STARZ
"Run in the sun."
RUHN ihn dhuh SUHN
"She wears a visor to block the sun while playing tennis."
shee WAIRZ uh VAHY·zer tuh BLAHK dhuh SUHN WAHYL PLAY·uhng TEH·nuhs
"Sit in the sun."
SIHT ihn dhuh SUHN
Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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

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