-TUARY Words
Words that end in -tuary (obituary, sanctuary, actuary) trip up even advanced speakers: the spelling suggests a plain T, but Americans say a CH sound and keep the ending "airy" full. Get these two details right and the word sounds instantly American.
How to make it
- Turn the T into CH: T before a long U becomes /tʃ/, the same sound as in picture or natural. Obituary is o-BIT-choo…, never o-bit-tyoo….
- Glide through the U: say a short "oo" that slides into the ending with a soft w: o-BIT-choo-(w)air-ee. In relaxed speech the "oo" can soften toward "uh" (o-BIT-chuh-wair-ee); both are natural.
- Keep -ARY full: the ending gets a light secondary stress and sounds like "airy" /ˌɛri/, not "uh-ree".
- Leave the main stress alone: it stays on the same syllable as in the base word: o-BIT, SANC, AC, MOR, STA, ES.
Watch out for
- A plain T + "you": "o-bit-TYOO-air-ee" is the British pattern. Americans say CH.
- Dropping the U: "o-BIT-chair-ee" loses a syllable. Obituary has five: o-bit-u-ar-y.
- Reducing -ARY: "SANK-chuh-ree" is British. Americans say SANK-choo-air-ee.
- Stressing the ending: never "o-bit-CHOO-air-ee".
Words to try
- obituary: o-BIT-choo-air-ee /oʊˈbɪtʃuˌɛri/
- sanctuary: SANK-choo-air-ee /ˈsæŋktʃuˌɛri/
- actuary: AK-choo-air-ee /ˈæktʃuˌɛri/
- mortuary: MOR-choo-air-ee /ˈmɔrtʃuˌɛri/
- statuary: STA-choo-air-ee /ˈstætʃuˌɛri/
- estuary: ES-choo-air-ee /ˈɛstʃuˌɛri/
💡 The same CH + U lives in -TUAL words too: actual, ritual, virtual, mutual. Say "actual" and "actuary" back to back: the start is identical.