vegetables

IPA /ˈvɛdʒəɾəbəlz/ Syllables 4 · veh·juh·tuh·buhlz Stress 1st syllable
VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz
Start here

Americans pronounce vegetables as VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz (/ˈvɛdʒəɾəbəlz/). The T between vowels softens into a quick D-like flap, so it sounds closer to a D than a crisp T. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "vegetables" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are
Tap the mic to start
Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds
75%
Clarity
68%
Stress
78%
Intonation
65%
Fluency
62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

In "vegetables", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.

Treating every L the same.

The L in "vegetables" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.

Unlock the full report in the app
Why it sounds different

Why "vegetables" sounds like VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz.

In "vegetables", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, the kind of sound shift that makes everyday speech feel effortless. It comes out as VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz.

In real conversation

Hear "vegetables" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Could you grab some organic vegetables from the produce aisle?"
kuud yoo GRAB suhm or·GA·nuhk VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz fruhm dhuh PROH·doos AHYL
"Fresh vegetables are harvested in the autumn."
FREHSH VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz er HAR·vuh·stuhd ihn dhee AH·duhm
"I grilled the vegetables over medium heat until they were tender."
ahy grihld dhuh VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz OH·ver MEE·dee·uhm HEET uhn·TIHL dhay wer TEHN·der
"She chopped the vegetables into small, uniform pieces for the stir fry."
shee CHAHPT dhuh VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz IHN·too SMAHL YOO·nuh·form PEE·suhz fer dhuh STUR FRAHY
Same pattern

Words that work the same way.

All of these share phonetic features with this word — same trick.

VUHL·ner·uh·BIH·luh·teezvulnerabilitiesVEHJ·tuh·buhlvegetableuhb·JEHK·tuhvzobjectivesEH·luh·juh·buhleligibleduh·LIH·ver·uh·buhlzdeliverablesEHL·JEE·BEE·TEE·KYOOlgbtquhg·ZEH·kyuh·tuhvexecutiveREH·pruh·ZEHN·tuh·tuhvzrepresentatives
Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

01

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

In "vegetables", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.

VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz→VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz
02

Treating every L the same.

The L in "vegetables" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.

vegetables→VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz
03

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "vegetables", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

vegetables→VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz
04

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch VEH — keep everything else short and quick.

veh·JUH·TUH·BUHLZ→VEH·juh·tuh·buhlz
Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "vegetables" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "VEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "vegetables"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "vegetables" sounds closer to "VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the second syllable in "vegetables" 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 "VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "vegetables" 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 "VEH-juh-tuh-buhlz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Stop reading about "vegetables". Start saying it.

SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.

Download for iOS Android Coming soon