w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
How to pronounce was in American English
wuhz
Start here
Americans pronounce was as wuhz (/wəz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Where was it?" or "Yesterday was yummy" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "was".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "was" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"A massive gap in candidates was apparent."
uh MA·suhv GAP ihn KAN·duh·dayts wuhz uh·PEH·ruhnt
"Admittedly, I was initially skeptical, but now I am completely convinced."
uhd·MIH·duhd·lee ahy wuhz ih·NIH·shuh·lee SKEHP·tuh·kuhl buht NOW ahy uhm kuhm·PLEET·lee kuhn·VIHNST
"Although the traffic was bad, we arrived on time."
ahl·DHOH dhuh TRA·fuhk wuhz BAD wee uh·RAHYVD ahn TAHYM
"Before the storm, the port was normal."
buh·FOR dhuh STORM dhuh PORT wuhz NOR·muhl
"Certainly, the service was worthy of hurt."
SUR·tuhn·lee dhuh SUR·vuhs wuhz WUR·dhee uhv HURT
"Conclusion of the occasion was casually done."
kuhn·KLOO·zhuhn uhv dhee uh·KAY·zhuhn wuhz KA·zhuh·lee DUHN
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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.
WUHZ→wuhz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "was" 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 "wuhz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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