dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
How to pronounce themselves in American English
dhuhm·SEHLVZ
Start here
Americans pronounce themselves as dhuhm-SEHLVZ (/ðəmˈsɛlvz/). The L in "themselves" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as dhuhm·SEHLVZ. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The barnacles attached themselves to the hull of the ship" or "The testimonials from satisfied clients speak for themselves" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "themselves".
2 syllables, 8 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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "themselves" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "themselves" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
themselves→dhuhm·SEHLVZ
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch SEHLVZ — keep everything else short and quick.
DHUHM·sehlvz→dhuhm·SEHLVZ
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.
DHUHM·SEHLVZ→dhuhm·SEHLVZ
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "themselves" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SEHLVZ" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "dhuhm-SEHLVZ" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "themselves" 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 "dhuhm-SEHLVZ" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "themselves" 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 "dhuhm-SEHLVZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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