How to pronounce thing in American English

IPA /θɪŋ/ Syllables 1 · thihng

thihng

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Americans pronounce thing as thihng (/θɪŋ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Can you bring me that thing over there?" or "He assumed it was the right thing to do" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "thing".

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

th/θ/

Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.

ih/ɪ/

Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.

ng/ŋ/

Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.

In real conversation

Hear "thing" in the wild.

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

"Can you bring me that thing over there?"

kuhn yuh BRIHNG mee dhat thihng OH·ver DHAIR

"Giving a gift is a simple but significant thing."

GIH·vuhng uh GIHFT ihz uh SIHM·puhl buht suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt thihng

"He assumed it was the right thing to do."

hee uh·SOOMD iht wuhz dhuh RAHYT thihng tuh DOO

"I always check my schedule first thing in the morning."

ahy AHL·wayz CHEHK mahy SKEH·juhl FURST thihng ihn dhuh MOR·nuhng

"Stop bringing the boring thing to the meeting."

STAHP BRIHNG·uhng dhuh BOR·uhng thihng tuh dhuh MEE·duhng

"The surprise party was a complete success without him suspecting a thing."

dhuh ser·PRAHYZ PAR·tee wuhz uh kuhm·PLEET suhk·SEHS wih·DHOWT hihm suh·SPEHK·tuhng uh THIHNG

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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