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 temperature in American English
TEHM·puh·ruh·cher
Start here
Americans pronounce temperature as TEHM-puh-ruh-cher (/ˈtɛmpərətʃər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Did you say the temperature is thirteen degrees?" or "He measured the temperature and pressure of the gas" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "temperature".
4 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
r/r/
SyllabicThe schwa before R disappears — R becomes the vowel of the syllable. This is the 'er' sound without a distinct vowel before it.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ch/tʃ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'sh' position. Flare your lips.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "temperature" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Did you say the temperature is thirteen degrees?"
dihd yuh SAY dhuh TEHM·pruh·cher ihz ther·TEEN duh·GREEZ
"He measured the temperature and pressure of the gas."
hee MEH·zherd dhuh TEHM·pruh·cher and PREH·sher uhv dhuh GAS
"Measurements of ocean temperature help track climate change."
MEH·zher·muhnts uhv OH·shuhn TEHM·per·cher HEHLP TRAK KLAHY·muht CHAYNJ
"She wore layers because the temperature fluctuates throughout the day."
shee WOR LAY·erz buh·KUHZ dhuh TEHM·pruh·cher FLUHK·choo·ayts throo·OWT dhuh DAY
"The nurse took my blood pressure and recorded my temperature."
dhuh NURS TUUK mahy BLUHD PREH·sher and ruh·KOR·duhd mahy TEHM·pruh·cher
"The forecast predicts a significant drop in temperature overnight."
dhuh FOR·kast pruh·DIHKTS uh suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt DRAHP ihn TEHM·pruh·cher oh·ver·NAHYT
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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 TEHM — keep everything else short and quick.
tehm·PUH·RUH·CHER→TEHM·puh·ruh·cher
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.
TEHM·PUH·ruh·cher→TEHM·puh·ruh·cher
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 "temperature" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "TEHM" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "TEHM-puh-ruh-cher" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "temperature" 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 "TEHM-puh-ruh-cher" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "temperature"?
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 "temperature" 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 "TEHM-puh-ruh-cher" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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