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.
How to pronounce told in American English
TOHLD
Start here
Americans pronounce told as TOHLD (/toʊld/). The L in "told" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as TOHLD. You'll hear it in sentences like "They told me to wait here" or "He told a really unbelievable story" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "told".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
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.
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "told" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
told→TOHLD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "told" 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 "TOHLD" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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