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 transmits in American English
tran·SMIHTS
Start here
Americans pronounce transmits as tran-SMIHTS (/trænsˈmɪts/). In "transmits", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before M/N, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as tran·SMIHTS. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The nervous system transmits signals between the brain and the body".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "transmits".
2 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
a/æ/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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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
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "transmits", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
tran-SMIHTS→tran·SMIHTS
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch SMIHTS — keep everything else short and quick.
TRAN·smihts→tran·SMIHTS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "transmits" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SMIHTS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "tran-SMIHTS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "transmits" 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 "tran-SMIHTS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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