I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch" Answer from Snapsforme on reddit.com
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.
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.
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
Pronunciation Of The Letter H | Key Aero
Im not sure how this goes, but id guess its an british things, so for those members who are from other countries, im sorry, you may not understand the following More on key.aero
pronunciation - How does one correctly pronounce the letter 'H': "Aych" or "haych"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Related: Pronunciation of the English alphabet. ... The only time I've heard "haitch" is from Francophones that have a hard time understanding the usage of the English letter 'h'. They will also tend to pronounce "have" as "ave", and "eight" as "hate". More on english.stackexchange.com
Pronunciation of the letter 'H'
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October 4, 2017I pronounce it "aitch" but I think British people say "haitch" Answer from Snapsforme on reddit.com
Videos
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › H
H - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - Its name in English is aitch (pronounced /eɪtʃ/ ⓘ, plural aitches), or regionally haitch (pronounced /heɪtʃ/, plural haitches). For most English speakers, the name for the letter is pronounced as /eɪtʃ/ and spelled "aitch" or occasionally "eitch". The pronunciation /heɪtʃ/ and the ...
YouTube
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How to pronounce the letter H - YouTube
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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 › 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
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. "Hello". You'll be exhausted after two seconds. But you do want to use a little bit of air that is already here in the lungs.
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
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.
Quora
quora.com › How-would-you-phonetically-spell-the-name-of-the-letter-H
How would you phonetically spell the name of the letter “H”? - Quora
Answer (1 of 15): I spell it as “Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N-S-P-A-M-M-E-R”, but that’s just me, of course.
Monash Lens
lens.monash.edu › 2018 › 06 › 07 › 1351906 › haitch-or-aitch-how-a-humble-letter-was-held-hostage-by-historical-haughtiness
Haitch or Aitch? The debate over the letter H pronunciation - Monash lens
October 4, 2018 - Seuss’ 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.
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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.)
Tera Courses
teracourses.com › home › languages › english | beginner level › tera courses › how to pronounce letter h,h
7 | How to pronounce letter H,h
9 hours ago - Explainer video for How to pronounce letter H,h online for free
Collins Dictionary
grammar.collinsdictionary.com › us › pronunciation-guide › letter-h
Letter H | Pronunciation Guide | Collins Education
Definitions Summary Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Collocations Conjugations Grammar · HH is a consonant.Spanish h is always silent unless it is in the letter combination ch:hora (hour) hombre (man) hijo (son) ahora (now) Practise the following words with a y-sound first and then with a hint of a zh-sound:hierba (grass) hielo (ice) hierro (iron)In everyday speech a vowel at the end of a word in a sense group (a sense group consists of two closely connected words such as my son, two men) usually glides into the next word without a pause if it begins with a vowel or h:mi hijo (my son) cinco hombres (five men) PreviousNext ·
Key Aero
key.aero › forum › general-discussion › 99629-pronunciation-of-the-letter-h
Pronunciation Of The Letter H | Key Aero
While I realise that this is ridiculously anal but im getting royally peeved with people saying "Haych" instead of "Aych" when saying the letter H. Ive been told now that saying "Aych" is wrong by all of my friends and many teachers from school who say "Haych" It wasnt until I was about 15 that I heard "Haych" so is it some stupid fashion that has been indoctrinated into children now (im only 21) but I hear teachers saying it and think that it just cant be right ... The only correct pronunciation is "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.
BBC
bbc.com › worklife › article › 20180622-the-haughty-history-of-the-letter-h
The haughty history of the letter H
June 26, 2018 - Few things will the English youth find in after-life more pro-fitable than the right use of the aforesaid letter. And so, the English youth restored H to words like hat, and even at the start of many French words like humble, which had entered English H-less (the Romans pronounced their Hs, but the French dropped theirs).
Englishpronunciationmadrid
englishpronunciationmadrid.com › portada
h - English Pronunciation
June 21, 2025 - The letter h is normally said as /h/, but in some cases it is not pronounced. Let’s see two different situations. 1. Some function words, especially pronouns, lose the /h/ when they are unaccented (which occurs very often).
The Global Montessori Network
theglobalmontessorinetwork.org › all blogs › primary (kindergarten) › how to pronounce 'h'
How to Pronounce ‘h’ Sound | Montessori Language Lesson | GMN
March 30, 2023 - Introduce the sound of the letter ‘h’ through some fun activities, such as: Make the child laugh ‘ha ha ha’. Let them keep their hands in front of their mouth and feel the air leaving while making the sound of ‘ha’. Let the child dip their hands in color and print his hand on a piece of paper. Focus on /h/ pronunciation each time the child prints and says out loud—/h-h-h-hand/.
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?