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.
How to pronounce tariffs in American English
TAIR·uhfs
Start here
Americans pronounce tariffs as TAIR-uhfs (/ˈtɛrəfs/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on most goods".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "tariffs".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
air/ɛr/
Start with the 'eh' vowel mouth position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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 first syllable, not the others. Stretch TAIR — keep everything else short and quick.
tair·UHFS→TAIR·uhfs
02
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
TAIR·UHFS→TAIR·uhfs
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "tariffs" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "TAIR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "TAIR-uhfs" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "tariffs" 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 "TAIR-uhfs" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "tariffs"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "tariffs" 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 "TAIR-uhfs" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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