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 wonder in American English
WUHN·der
Start here
Americans pronounce wonder as WUHN-der (/ˈwʌndər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I wonder what his motives were" or "I wonder if you have another one" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "wonder".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then 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.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "wonder" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Brother, wonder over yonder by the river."
BRUH·dher WUHN·der OH·ver YAHN·der bahy dhuh RIH·ver
"I wonder if the sudden thunder will disrupt the fun."
ahy WUHN·der ihf dhuh SUH·duhn THUHN·der wihl dihs·RUHPT dhuh FUHN
"I wonder if you have another one."
ahy WUHN·der ihf yoo hav uh·NUH·dher wuhn
"I wonder what his motives were."
ahy WUHN·der wuht hihz MOH·duhvz wur
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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 WUHN — keep everything else short and quick.
wuhn·DER→WUHN·der
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 is "wonder" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "WUHN" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "WUHN-der" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "wonder"?
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 "wonder" 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 "WUHN-der" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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