How to pronounce young in American English

IPA /jʌŋ/ Syllables 1 · yuhng Stress 1st syllable

YUHNG

Start here

Americans pronounce young as YUHNG (/jʌŋ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Young and yell" or "Yes, you used to be young and yellow" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "young" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "young".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

y/j/

Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of your mouth, but stop just short of touching. /j/ is an approximant, not a stop. The tongue tip stays down, lightly resting near the back of your bottom front teeth. Voice runs through the whole gesture, and the tongue glides smoothly down into the next vowel. The lips stay neutral or pre-shape for the upcoming vowel (rounding early for OO in <em>youth</em>, for example).

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 "young" in the wild.

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

"Housing affordability remains a pressing issue for young families."

HOW·zuhng uh·for·duh·BIH·luh·tee ruh·MAYNZ uh PREH·suhng IH·shoo fer YUHNG FA·muh·leez

"The plot revolves around a young detective solving a crime."

dhuh PLAHT ruh·VAHLVZ uh·ROWND uh YUHNG duh·TEHK·tuhv SAHL·vuhng uh KRAHYM

"The young gang was banging on the gong."

dhuh YUHNG GANG wuhz BANG·uhng ahn dhuh GAHNG

"The young man was helping his grandmother."

dhuh YUHNG MAN wuhz HEHL·puhng hihz GRAN·muh·dher

"Yes, you used to be young and yellow."

yehs yoo YOOST tuh bee YUHNG and YEH·loh

"Young and yell."

YUHNG and YEHL

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "young" 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 "YUHNG" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.