v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
How to pronounce vacuum in American English
VA·kyoom
Start here
Americans pronounce vacuum as VA-kyoom (/ˈvækjum/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "We need to vacuum the carpet before the guests arrive tonight".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "vacuum".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
yoo/ju/
Start with the tongue mid-front raised high, almost touching the roof of the mouth (but not touching). Glide into a tight lip circle as the tongue back lifts.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
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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 VA — keep everything else short and quick.
va·KYOOM→VA·kyoom
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "vacuum" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "VA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "VA-kyoom" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "vacuum" 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 "VA-kyoom" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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