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 very in American English
VEH·ree
Start here
Americans pronounce very as VEH-ree (/ˈvɛri/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Very rare" or "A very nice van" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "very".
2 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "very" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"A very nice van."
uh VEH·ree NAHYS VAN
"Bamboo grows very quickly and is used for many purposes."
bam·BOO grohz VEH·ree KWIH·klee and ihz yoozd fer MEH·nee PUR·puh·suhz
"He asked me a very direct question."
hee askt mee uh VEH·ree duh·REHKT KWEHS·chuhn
"He is a very strong and capable leader."
hee ihz uh VEH·ree STRAHNG and KAY·puh·buhl LEE·der
"He said he was feeling very sad yesterday."
hee sehd hee wuhz FEE·luhng VEH·ree SAD YEH·ster·day
"Her career is progressing very well."
HUR kuh·REER ihz pruh·GREH·suhng VEH·ree wehl
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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 VEH — keep everything else short and quick.
veh·REE→VEH·ree
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "very" 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-ree" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "very" 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-ree" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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