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 turn in American English
TURN
Start here
Americans pronounce turn as TURN (/tɜrn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Turn on the fan" or "Turn left at the curb" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "turn".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
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 "turn" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Before you leave, don't forget to turn off the lights."
buh·FOR yoo LEEV DOHNT fer·GEHT tuh TURN AHF dhuh LAHYTS
"Can you turn on the light near the mirror?"
kuhn yoo TURN AHN dhuh LAHYT NEER dhuh MEER·er
"Could you please turn on the light?"
kuud yoo PLEEZ TURN AHN dhuh LAHYT
"Could you turn on the right light, please?"
kuud yoo TURN AHN dhuh RAHYT LAHYT PLEEZ
"Could you turn the music down a little?"
kuud yoo TURN dhuh MYOO·zuhk DOWN uh LIH·duhl
"He was clearly devastated by the unexpected turn of events."
hee wuhz KLEER·lee DEH·vuh·stay·duhd bahy dhee uh·nuhk·SPEHK·tuhd TURN uhv uh·VEHNTS
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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 "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "turn"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "turn" 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 "TURN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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