How to pronounce throw in American English

IPA /θroʊ/ Syllables 1 · throh Stress 1st syllable

THROH

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Americans pronounce throw as THROH (/θroʊ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Throw the ball" or "Please throw away the trash when you leave" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "throw".

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.

oh/oʊ/

Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.

In real conversation

Hear "throw" in the wild.

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

"Please throw away the trash when you leave."

PLEEZ THROH uh·WAY dhuh TRASH wehn yuh LEEV

"She attends a pottery workshop to learn how to throw clay."

shee uh·TEHNDZ uh PAH·duh·ree WURK·shahp tuh LURN HOW tuh THROH KLAY

"She made a free throw to add one point to the score."

shee MAYD uh FREE THROH tuh AD wuhn POYNT tuh dhuh SKOR

"Throw the ball."

THROH dhuh BAHL

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Questions

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