uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce under in American English
UHN·der
Start here
Americans pronounce under as UHN-der (/ˈʌndər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The cat took a nap under the sun" or "The sun came out from under the clouds" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "under".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "under" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He observed the cells under a high-powered microscope."
hee uhb·ZURVD dhuh SEHLZ UHN·der uh HAHY POW·erd MAHY·kruh·skohp
"I bet the wooden bat is still under the bed."
ahy BEHT dhuh WUU·duhn BAT ihz STIHL UHN·der dhuh BEHD
"I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days."
ahy hav bihn FEE·luhng UHN·der dhuh WEH·dher fer dhuh PAST FYOO DAYZ
"She claimed that the contract was signed under duress."
shee KLAYMD dhuht dhuh KAHN·trakt wuhz SAHYND UHN·der duu·REHS
"She hired a plumber to fix the persistent leak under the sink."
shee HAHY·erd uh PLUH·mer tuh FIHKS dhuh per·SIH·stuhnt LEEK UHN·der dhuh SIHNGK
"Social media platforms are under scrutiny for spreading misinformation."
SOH·shuhl MEE·dee·uh PLAT·formz er UHN·der SKROO·duh·nee fer SPREH·duhng mih·sihn·fer·MAY·shuhn
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch UHN — keep everything else short and quick.
uhn·DER→UHN·der
02
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 is "under" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "UHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "UHN-der" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "under"?
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 "under" 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 "UHN-der" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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