I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch" Answer from Snapsforme on reddit.com
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › pronunciation › english › h
How to pronounce H in English
2 weeks ago - How to pronounce H. How to say H. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Learn more.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/englishlearning › how do you pronounce the letter "h"? /eɪtʃ/ or /heɪtʃ/?
How do you pronounce the letter "H"? /eɪtʃ/ or /heɪtʃ
July 4, 2023 -
First of all I'm not confused about how this letter is pronounced. I've been taught it's the former pronunciation all along and none of the dictionaries recognise the latter. But I observed there has been an increasing surge of people, many YouTubers included, that adopted the /heɪtʃ/ pronunciation, which vexed me to no end. I even saw some teachers of English pronounced the letter like that, which is alarming to say the least.
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I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch"
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I have never heard someone from the US pronounce it in the latter form, except as a joke over-Britishism. It is relatively common in the UK. Both seem to be usual forms, and I imagine you'd be understood most of the time with either as well. I'm not sure if you're joking or just being a little over formal, but to find a pronounciation "vexing" or "alarming" is a somewhat excessively strong response, I think.
Why is "H" pronounced 'ay-ch' in the US but 'hay-ch' in Britain?
The name of the letter H comes from the french name "hache" which was /atʃə/ in Old French, which middle english adapted as /aːtʃə/ and which became /eɪtʃ/ in modern english. The pronunciation "haitch" is just adding a [h] sound back to "aitch" because most letters start with their sound. French added the "ch" because the original name of the letter H /ha/ lost its H in French and became identical to A /a/! More on reddit.com
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October 28, 2020pronunciation - How does one correctly pronounce the letter 'H': "Aych" or "haych"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
What is the correct sound of the letter H when reading the alphabet - is it 'aych' or 'Haych' ? More on english.stackexchange.com
pronunciation - How is the Ĥ letter pronounced? - Esperanto Language Stack Exchange
Bring the best of human thought and AI automation together at your work. Explore Stack Internal ... The way people explain the pronunciation of the Ĥ letter is rather confusing. More on esperanto.stackexchange.com
How do you pronounce the letter "H"? /eɪtʃ/ or /heɪtʃ/?
I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch" More on reddit.com
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July 4, 2023I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch" Answer from Snapsforme on reddit.com
Videos
07:22
How to Pronounce 'H' in British English | Consonant Pronunciation ...
38:57
English Pronunciation | The Letter 'H' + Vowel Sounds Practice ...
00:10
Basic English: How to Pronounce the Letter H - YouTube
04:25
How to pronounce H - YouTube
03:58
h as in heart, British English Pronunciation of the Phonetic Alphabet ...
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › H
H - Wikipedia
1 week ago - In English, the pronunciation of ⟨h⟩ as /h/ can be analyzed as a voiceless vowel. That is, when the phoneme /h/ precedes a vowel, /h/ may be realized as a voiceless version of the subsequent vowel. For example, the word ⟨hit⟩, /hɪt/ is realized as [ɪ̥ɪt]. H is the eighth most frequently used letter in the English language (after S, N, I, O, A, T, and E), with a frequency of about 6.1% in words.
BBC
bbc.com › news › magazine-11642588
'Haitch' or 'aitch'? How do you pronounce 'H'? - BBC News
October 28, 2010 - Not only is housewifery no longer pronounced huzzifry, it is almost entirely obsolete as a word. Quite why some words change is unknown. Because, while many are importations from America - schedule turning into skedule is almost certainly a consequence of American films and television - the gradual shift of garage to sound like garridge is less easy to explain. So too is there a mystery as to why certain pronunciations cause such strong feeling. Take the eighth letter of the alphabet, pronounce it haitch and then look for the slightly agonised look in some people's eyes.
YouTube
youtube.com › playlist
How to pronounce the letter H - YouTube
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-letter-h-in-the-word-her
What is the correct pronunciation of the letter 'h' in the word 'her'? - Quora
Answer: The way I interpret this question is that the enquirer is simply asking how to pronounce the letter “h” as it is in, for example, the word “her”. So many answers have been submitted but they seem to veer away from addressing the specific need, i.e. the pronunciation of the letter “h”; and...
Quora
quora.com › How-do-you-pronounce-the-name-of-the-letter-h
How to pronounce the name of the letter 'h' - Quora
Answer: It's pronounced “AH-cheh” (🤧) in Spanish, and the letter itself is silent when used at the beginning of a word. (My name would be pronounced “Anna” in Spanish, por ejemplo; “Hola” is “Ola”, etc.)
Reddit
reddit.com › r/languagelearning › why is "h" pronounced 'ay-ch' in the us but 'hay-ch' in britain?
r/languagelearning on Reddit: Why is "H" pronounced 'ay-ch' in the US but 'hay-ch' in Britain?
October 28, 2020 - Old French, which middle english adapted as /aːtʃə/ and which became /eɪtʃ/ in modern english. The pronunciation "haitch" is just adding a [h] sound back to "aitch" because most letters start with their sound.
San Diego Voice and Accent
sandiegovoiceandaccent.com › american-english-consonants › how-to-pronounce-the-h-h-consonant
American English Pronunciation: The H /h/ Consonant
Learn how to pronounce every consonant of American English starting with the H /h/ "hello" consonant! In this video, Julie gives you step-by-step instructions on how to perfect your American English pronunciation and American accent.
YouTube
youtube.com › tarle speech - english pronunciation
How to Pronounce the Letter H - #SHORTS Quick English Pronunciation Mini Lesson - YouTube
Learn how to pronounce the letter H with this American English #shorts pronunciation lesson. Pronunciation: /eɪʧ/Definition: the letter Products, classes,...
Published February 11, 2023 Views 48K
Englishpronunciationmadrid
englishpronunciationmadrid.com › portada
h - English Pronunciation
June 21, 2025 - 2. The letter h is silent in a handful of words. Here are the most important ones. hour honest honour heir shepherd vehicle annihilate · It is also silent in the name Graham . The name of the famous British writer Graham Greene, therefore, is /ˌgreɪəm ˈgriːn/ , very different from what we usually say in Spanish. This stresses the importance of being aware of the pronunciation of proper names.
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
Basic English: How to Pronounce the Letter H - YouTube
http://www.bearstearnsbravo.comThis video shows you how to say H. Learn the correct American English pronunciation of the eighth letter in the alphabet.
Published September 12, 2010
The Independent
independent.co.uk › news › long reads
Haitch or aitch? How a humble letter was held hostage by historical haughtiness | The Independent | The Independent
June 14, 2018 - Like Dr Seuss’s Star-Belly Sneetches and Plain-Belly Sneetches, there are two types of creatures – haitchers with H on their 8th letter name and aitchers with “none upon thars”. That H isn’t so big. It’s really so small / You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all. But it does – the tiny H on “(h)aitch” divides the nation. The pronunciation has become something of a social password, a spoken shibboleth distinguishing in-groupers from out-groupers.
Hadar Shemesh
hadarshemesh.com › home › the h in english (how to pronounce, silent h and more)
The H in English (how to pronounce, silent H and more)
October 4, 2025 - I just whispered the word 'hello' and everything just sounded like one big H. The beginning part is the H - 'Hello'. Now, look, you don't need to breathe in and use all the air that you have in your body to say the H sound.
Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-correct-English-pronunciation-for-the-letter-H-Aich-or-haich
What is the correct English pronunciation for the letter H? Aich or haich? - Quora
Answer (1 of 29): The letter ‘H’ has a rather contentious nature since it has two prominent pronunciations. The first pronunciation is ‘haitch’, making sure to fully pronounce the breathy ‘H’ sound at the beginning. The second pronunciation is ‘aitch’, pronouncing it without the ‘H’ sound at th...
UsingEnglish
usingenglish.com › home › testing › language polls › question
Poll: I pronounce the letter 'H'... - UsingEnglish.com
But like others have mentioned once people start appearing on the TV and mispronouncing, the young start to copy, and if the BBC does not correct what hope have we got! ... Oh for goodness sake, get a life! Getting angry at English-language prononciations, and worse-still, denigrating the prononciation of others must be the epitome of small-mindedness! ... It's "aitch". It's not a question of opinion but rather a fact based on the Latin script defining the pronunciation of each letter in the English lanuage, for example "double-u".
Pronunciation Studio
pronunciationstudio.com › home › h
H - Pronunciation Studio
September 28, 2016 - https://pronunciationstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/H5.mp3 · The pronunciation of the letter itself is unclear, should it be /heɪtʃ/ or /eɪtʃ/? The standard or ‘correct’ version in GB is /eɪtʃ/, and this is the pronunciation the BBC recommends to its broadcasters as being “less likely to attract audience complaints.” The reality is that both pronunciations are commonly used and some native speakers will switch between both.
TikTok
tiktok.com › the english pros (@english_pros) | tiktok › how to pronounce the letter "h" #edutok #learnenglish #learnontiktok #learningisfun #english #learnenglish #fypシ #foryou #viral #trending #relatable
How to pronounce the letter "H" #edutok #learnenglish #learnontiktok #learningisfun #english #learnenglish #fypシ #foryou #viral #trending #relatable | TikTok
954 Likes, 50 Comments. TikTok video from The English Pros (@english_pros): “How to pronounce the letter "H" #edutok #learnenglish #learnontiktok #learningisfun #english #learnenglish #fypシ #foryou #viral #trending #relatable”. How to pronounce | H | aitch?
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The Cambridge Online Survey of World Englishes has the question, "How do you pronounce the letter 'H'?"
Their current results:
aitch (85%)
haitch (12%)
I use something else (2%)
You can see a clearer (and navigable) image of this response map at the link above by registering and taking the survey:
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According to the OALD, the standard way to pronounce the H is this one, which is without the "H" sound in its pronunciation.
Although on Wikipedia, it says there is also the other pronunciation (with the "H" sound at the beginning) which, anyway, is considered to be nonstandard.
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For those who don't already speak a dozen languages or who have trouble with IPA descriptions, it's easy just to think of of it this way. Ĥ is a heavy H.
If you're not sure what that means, there are plenty of good videos on YouTube which include the Esperanto Alphabet. This video seems like as good a one as any to start with.
Edit: I received a comment elsewhere that "heavy H" is not helpful, at least to some people. Please be sure to notice the video link in the answer above. By "heavy" I actually mean that there is a restriction in the back of the throat, about where the letter K is pronounced. (I am intentionally avoiding the anatomical terms because most English speakers don't even notice a difference between a palatal k and a velar k.)
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I guess you got terrible sources. :/
You just have to check the Fundamento for this:
- In the English fundamento, ĥ is defined as in loch, which is /x/
- In the German fundamento, ĥ is defined as "ch". I think that "ch" in German is mostly /x/ like in nacht.Sternchen looks like an oddity.
- In the French fundamento, r is defined as the french r, which is /ʁ/, and is how most french speakers do it.
So you have to hear the difference between ĥ (a voiceless velar fricative) and different r. The "french r" is a voiced uvular fricative. (Which is also the most common pronunciation for resh in hebrew.) The "german r" is an voiced uvular trill. (I added it because it is often miscalled a french r because it is guttural.)