How to pronounce threw in American English

IPA /θru/ Syllables 1 · throo Stress 1st syllable

THROO

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Americans pronounce threw as THROO (/θru/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He threw the ball with all his strength" or "Nathan threw the thick cloth on the path" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "threw".

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.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

oo/u/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.

In real conversation

Hear "threw" in the wild.

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

"He threw his new shoes straight through the hoop."

hee THROO hihz NOO SHOOZ STRAYT throo dhuh HOOP

"He threw the ball with all his strength."

hee THROO dhuh BAHL wihth AHL hihz STREHNGTH

"Nathan threw the thick cloth on the path."

NAY·thuhn THROO dhuh THIHK KLAHTH ahn dhuh PATH

"The rude group threw the food into the pool."

dhuh rood GROOP THROO dhuh FOOD IHN·too dhuh POOL

"I knew he threw the ball right through the new window."

ahy NOO hee THROO dhuh BAHL RAHYT throo dhuh NOO WIHN·doh

"They threw the old boxes away when they knew the new ones arrived."

dhay THROO dhee OHLD BAHK·suhz uh·WAY wehn dhay NOO dhuh NOO WUHNZ uh·RAHYVD

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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