uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce us in American English
uhs
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Americans pronounce us as uhs (/əs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Tell us about your vacation" or "He isn't coming with us, is he?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "us".
1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "us" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Can you help us out with this project?"
kuhn yoo HEHLP uhs OWT wihth dhihs PRAH·jehkt
"Counting down the hours allowed us to bounce."
KOWN·tuhng DOWN dhee OW·erz uh·LOWD uhs tuh BOWNS
"He isn't coming with us, is he?"
hee IH·zuhnt KUH·muhng wihth uhs ihz hee
"I hope we can put this behind us and move forward together."
ahy HOHP wee kuhn PUUT dhihs buh·HAHYND uhs and MOOV FOR·werd tuh·GEH·dher
"It's time for us to start the meeting."
ihts TAHYM fer uhs tuh START dhuh MEE·duhng
"Let us all gather to celebrate this wonderful achievement."
LEHT uhs AHL GA·dher tuh SEH·luh·brayt dhihs WUHN·der·fuhl uh·CHEEV·muhnt
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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 first 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.
UHS→uhs
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "us" 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 "uhs" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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