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 supposed in American English
suh·POHZD
Start here
Americans pronounce supposed as suh-POHZD (/səˈpoʊzd/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Is it supposed to rain tomorrow?" or "Aren't you supposed to be at the meeting?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "supposed".
2 syllables, 6 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.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "supposed" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the meeting?"
ARNT yoo suh·POHZD tuh bee uht dhuh MEE·duhng
"I'm supposed to meet them at the coffee shop."
ahym suh·POHZD tuh MEET dhuhm uht dhuh KAH·fee SHAHP
"Is it supposed to rain tomorrow?"
ihz iht suh·POHZD tuh RAYN tuh·MAH·roh
"The package was supposed to arrive today."
dhuh PA·kuhj wuhz suh·POHZD tuh uh·RAHYV tuh·DAY
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch POHZD — keep everything else short and quick.
SUH·pohzd→suh·POHZD
02
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.
SUH·POHZD→suh·POHZD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "supposed" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "POHZD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "suh-POHZD" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "supposed" 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 "suh-POHZD" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "supposed" 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 "suh-POHZD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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