How to pronounce then in American English

IPA /ðɛn/ Syllables 1 · dhehn

dhehn

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Americans pronounce then as dhehn (/ðɛn/). The TH in "then" can be produced with the tongue tip pressing just behind the upper teeth rather than coming all the way through — an easier, faster articulation. This is called the Quick TH (the, this, that), the small reduction that lets you talk at conversation speed. It comes out as dhehn. You'll hear it in sentences like "What did you do then?" or "Clean the pan and then join the plan" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "then".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

dh/ð/

Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.

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.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

In real conversation

Hear "then" in the wild.

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

"Clean the pan and then join the plan."

KLEEN dhuh PAN and dhehn JOYN dhuh PLAN

"I need to decline because I will be out of town then."

ahy NEED tuh duh·KLAHYN buh·KUHZ ahy wihl bee OWT uhv TOWN dhehn

"What did you do then?"

WAHT dihd yoo DOO dhehn

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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