Pronunciation

How to pronounce “tongue

“tongue” is pronounced /tʌŋ/ (TUNG) — one syllable.
The sound

Say “tongue” in one beat

Say it like this

tongue

/tʌŋ/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

1 beat
  1. tonguetʌŋ
IPA (American)
/tʌŋ/
IPA (British)
/tʌŋ/
Respelling
TUNG
Syllables
1 — tongue
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /tʌŋ/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Part of speech
noun, verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Meaning

What “tongue” means

  1. noun

    a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity

  2. noun

    a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language

  3. noun

    any long thin projection that is transient

    tongues of flame licked at the walls

Say it in a sentence

She bit her tongue rather than start another argument.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

3 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

tongue”, answered

How do you pronounce “tongue”?

“tongue” is pronounced /tʌŋ/ (TUNG) — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /tʌŋ/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “tongue” have?

One, despite the 3 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /tʌŋ/ — a single beat.

What does “tongue” mean?

As a noun: a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity For example: “She bit her tongue rather than start another argument.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “tongue”?

One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /tʌŋ/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.

Practise this word

Now say “tongue” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.