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 week in American English
WEEK
Start here
Americans pronounce week as WEEK (/wik/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The tests will be graded next week" or "They are flying to London next week" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "week".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "week" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Are you available this week or next week?"
ar yoo uh·VAY·luh·buhl dhihs WEEK or NEHKST WEEK
"Could we possibly reschedule to sometime next week instead?"
kuud wee PAH·suh·blee ree·SKEH·juhl tuh SUHM·tahym nehkst WEEK uhn·STEHD
"He has been going to the gym three times a week."
hee huhz bihn GOH·uhng tuh dhuh JIHM THREE TAHYMZ uh WEEK
"I have a question about the reading assignment for next week."
ahy hav uh KWEHS·chuhn uh·BOWT dhuh REE·duhng uh·SAHYN·muhnt fer NEHKST WEEK
"I moved into the dormitory during the first week of orientation."
ahy moovd IHN·too dhuh DOR·muh·tor·ee DUUR·uhng dhuh FURST WEEK uhv or·ee·uhn·TAY·shuhn
"I need to review the study guide before the test next week."
ahy NEED tuh ruh·VYOO dhuh STUH·dee GAHYD buh·FOR dhuh TEHST NEHKST WEEK
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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 "week", the "k" 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.
week→WEEK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "week" 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 "WEEK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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