How to pronounce too in American English

IPA /tu/ Syllables 1 · too Stress 1st syllable

TOO

Start here

Americans pronounce too as TOO (/tu/). You'll hear it in sentences like "It's too early to make a decision" or "It won't be too expensive, will it?" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "too" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "too".

1 syllable, 2 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.

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 "too" in the wild.

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

"Her new shoes were too loose to use."

her noo SHOOZ wer TOO LOOS tuh YOOZ

"I had to drop a class because my schedule was too overwhelming."

ahy had tuh DRAHP uh KLAS buh·KUHZ mahy SKEH·juhl wuhz TOO oh·ver·WEHL·muhng

"I honestly thought the coffee was too strong."

ahy AH·nuhst·lee THAHT dhuh KAH·fee wuhz TOO STRAHNG

"It won't be too expensive, will it?"

iht WOHNT bee TOO uhk·SPEHN·suhv wihl iht

"It's too early to make a decision."

ihts TOO UR·lee tuh MAYK uh duh·SIH·zhuhn

"She accumulated too many fouls and fouled out of the game."

shee uh·KYOO·myuh·lay·duhd TOO MEH·nee FOWLZ and FOWLD OWT uhv dhuh GAYM

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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