th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
How to pronounce thunderstorms in American English
THUHN·der·stormz
Start here
Americans pronounce thunderstorms as THUHN-der-stormz (/ˈθʌndərˌstɔrmz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She loves watching lightning during summer thunderstorms" or "I heard there is a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "thunderstorms".
3 syllables, 10 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.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "thunderstorms" in the wild.
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch THUHN — keep everything else short and quick.
thuhn·DER·STORMZ→THUHN·der·STORMZ
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "thunderstorms" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "THUHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "THUHN-der-stormz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "thunderstorms"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "thunderstorms" 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 "THUHN-der-stormz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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