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 verb in American English
VURB
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Americans pronounce verb as VURB (/vɜrb/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Learn the verb and curl the word" or "She practices conjugation tables to master the verb tenses" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "verb".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "verb" in the wild.
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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 "verb", the "b" 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.
verb→VURB
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 do I pronounce the R in "verb"?
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 "verb" 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 "VURB" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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