How to pronounce won't in American English

IPA /woʊnt/ Syllables 1 · wohnt Stress 1st syllable

WOHNT

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Americans pronounce won't as WOHNT (/woʊnt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Won't you stay for a little while?" or "It won't be too expensive, will it?" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "won't".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

w/w/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.

oh/oʊ/

Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.

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.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

In real conversation

Hear "won't" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"It won't be too expensive, will it?"

iht WOHNT bee TOO uhk·SPEHN·suhv wihl iht

"The city won't permit construction in this area."

dhuh SIH·dee WOHNT per·MIHT kuhn·STRUHK·shuhn ihn dhihs AIR·ee·uh

"Won't you stay for a little while?"

WOHNT yoo STAY fer uh LIH·duhl WAHYL

"You'll be there on time, won't you?"

yool bee DHAIR ahn TAHYM WOHNT yoo

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "won't" 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 "WOHNT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.