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 working in American English
WUR·kuhng
Start here
Americans pronounce working as WUR-kuhng (/ˈwɜrkəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Is the Wi-Fi working for you?" or "She's been working on that all morning" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "working".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue 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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "working" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Community organizations are working to address food insecurity locally."
kuh·MYOO·nuh·tee or·guh·nuh·ZAY·shuhnz er WUR·kuhng tuh uh·DREHS FOOD ihn·suh·KYUUR·uh·tee LOH·kuh·lee
"He follows strict safety protocols while working in the lab."
hee FAH·lohz STRIHKT SAYF·tee PROH·duh·kahlz WAHYL WUR·kuhng uhn dhuh LAB
"He is working on reducing his accent to sound more natural."
hee ihz WUR·kuhng ahn ruh·DOO·suhng hihz AK·sehnt tuh SOWND MOR NA·cher·uhl
"He's been working on that project all evening."
heez bihn WUR·kuhng ahn dhat PRAH·jehkt AHL EEV·nuhng
"I am working on my thesis proposal for the graduate committee."
ahy uhm WUR·kuhng ahn mahy THEE·suhs pruh·POH·zuhl fer dhuh GRA·joo·uht kuh·MIH·dee
"Is the Wi-Fi working for you?"
ihz dhuh WAHY fahy WUR·kuhng fer yoo
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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 WUR — keep everything else short and quick.
wur·KUHNG→WUR·kuhng
02
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
WUR·KUHNG→WUR·kuhng
03
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 "working" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "WUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "WUR-kuhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "working" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "WUR-kuhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "working"?
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 "working" 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 "WUR-kuhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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