uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce upcoming in American English
UHP·kuh·muhng
Start here
Americans pronounce upcoming as UHP-kuh-muhng (/ˈʌpˌkʌmɪŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "What are your plans for the upcoming long weekend?" or "He bought a new baseball glove for the upcoming season" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "upcoming" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "upcoming".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "upcoming" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Have you been following the news about the upcoming elections?"
hav yoo bihn FAH·loh·uhng dhuh NOOZ uh·BOWT dhee UHP·kuh·muhng uh·LEHK·shuhnz
"He bought a new baseball glove for the upcoming season."
hee BAHT uh noo BAYS·bahl GLUHV fer dhee UHP·kuh·muhng SEE·zuhn
"He reviewed past exams to prepare for the upcoming final."
hee ree·VYOOD PAST uhg·ZAMZ tuh pruh·PAIR fer dhee UHP·kuh·muhng FAHY·nuhl
"I have been feeling a bit anxious about the upcoming exam."
ahy hav bihn FEE·luhng uh BIHT ANGK·shuhs uh·BOWT dhee UHP·kuh·muhng uhg·ZAM
"Let's set some measurable objectives for the upcoming review period."
LEHTS SEHT suhm MEH·zhuh·ruh·buhl uhb·JEHK·tuhvz fer dhee UHP·kuh·muhng ruh·VYOO PEER·ee·uhd
"She auditioned for a supporting role in the upcoming production."
shee ah·DIH·shuhnd fer uh suh·POR·tuhng ROHL ihn dhee UHP·kuh·muhng pruh·DUHK·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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "upcoming", 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.
upcoming→UHP·KUH·muhng
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch UHP — keep everything else short and quick.
uhp·KUH·MUHNG→UHP·KUH·muhng
03
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
UHP·KUH·muhng→UHP·KUH·muhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "upcoming" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "UHP" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "UHP-kuh-muhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "upcoming" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "UHP-kuh-muhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "upcoming" 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 "UHP-kuh-muhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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