To pronounce "up", say UP — one syllable, IPA /ap/. Tap play below to hear it in four English accents, or practice it syllable by syllable.
up
Tap to hear · American accent
Accent
If an accent sounds the same, your device is missing that voice — it falls back to the closest one.
Speed
Record yourself saying up, then compare with the target. Your audio stays on this device — nothing is uploaded.
1
Syllable
2
Letters
/ap/
IPA
"up" is a single-syllable word — say it in one clean beat. It rhymes with cup and hookup, if that helps it stick.
Sounds exactly like: upp — easy to mix up when writing.
noun
“Up is a good way to go.”
“I hate almost everything about my job. The only up is that it's so close to home.”
verb
“If we up the volume, we may be able to hear what he says.”
“It wasn’t long before they upped him to Vice President.”
adjective
“Put the notebook face up on the table.”
“The flood waters are up again across large areas of the country.”
Real example sentences from Tatoeba (CC-BY) — tap to hear each one, or see it used on YouGlish.
Practicing rhymes trains the same ending sounds.
"Up" has one syllable.
The IPA transcription of "up" is /ap/.
Up: The direction opposed to the pull of gravity.
Want the definition, translations into 8 languages, and read-aloud for full sentences?
Open “up” in the full dictionary →