How to pronounce tone in American English

IPA /toʊn/ Syllables 1 · tohn Stress 1st syllable

TOHN

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Americans pronounce tone as TOHN (/toʊn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Note the tone of the whole proposal closely".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "tone".

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

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.

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.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "tone" in the wild.

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

"Note the tone of the whole proposal closely."

NOHT dhuh TOHN uhv dhuh HOHL pruh·POH·zuhl KLOH·slee

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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