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 took in American English
TUUK
Start here
Americans pronounce took as TUUK (/tʊk/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He took the wood" or "Who took my wool sweater?" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "took" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "took".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uu/ʊ/
Bring the corners of your lips in slightly so they push forward, but keep them relaxed. Lift the back of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "took" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He shook his head and took the book back."
hee SHUUK hihz HEHD and TUUK dhuh BUUK BAK
"He took a taxi from the airport to the hotel downtown."
hee TUUK uh TAK·see fruhm dhee AIR·port tuh dhuh hoh·TEHL down·TOWN
"He took my friendly advice as a personal insult."
hee TUUK mahy FREHND·lee uhd·VAHYS uhz uh PUR·suh·nuhl IHN·suhlt
"I took a pottery class to learn how to use the throwing wheel."
ahy TUUK uh PAH·duh·ree KLAS tuh LURN HOW tuh YOOZ dhuh THROH·uhng WEEL
"It took a lot of time to finish the job."
iht TUUK uh LAHT uhv TAHYM tuh FIH·nuhsh dhuh JAHB
"It took a while to find out the real story."
iht TUUK uh WAHYL tuh FAHYND OWT dhuh REE·uhl STOR·ee
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "took", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
took→TUUK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "took" 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 "TUUK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "took". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.