2 syllables: hit, ting. Stress on hit.
/ˈhɪtɪŋ/
Say it backHitting is the present participle of hit, meaning to strike or collide with force. In everyday use it can describe physical striking, contact in sports, or achieving success (e.g.,
"He’s hitting the punching bag to build power."
"The baseball player is hitting .300 this season."
"The meteor brushed the atmosphere, and the satellite was hit."
Hitting is pronounced /ˈhɪtɪŋ/. The primary stress sits on the first syllable HIT, followed by a short, unstressed -ing. The /t/ is a light, tap-like sound in rapid speech, not a strong alveolar stop. Mouth position: lips neutral, tongue tip behind the upper teeth for the /h/ before the /ɪ/. IPA reference: US/UK/AU share /ˈhɪtɪŋ/; ensure you don’t nasalize the vowel or overemphasize the consonant. For practice, say: HIT-ting, then connect to the following word smoothly.
Common mistakes include: (1) Overemphasizing the /t/ making it sound like hat-ing or hit-ting with a harsh stop; keep /t/ lightly released. (2) Tense vowels in /ɪ/ or misplacing the mouth; aim for a relaxed, short /ɪ/ as in kit. (3) Slurring the -ing into a solid /ŋ/ preceded by a reduced vowel; ensure a clean short /ɪ/ before the velar nasal /ŋ/. Correct by practicing with minimal pairs: hit vs. hit-ting, sit-ting, and by phrasing: Hitting the ball—clear, light /t/ release.
US/UK/AU share /ˈhɪtɪŋ/ but vowel length and rhoticity influence surrounding sounds. US generally keeps a rhotic, with a slightly shorter /ɪ/ in rapid speech; UK tends to crisper consonants and a slightly rounded /ɪ/ in some regions; Australian English often reduces vowels more in casual speech and may have non-rhotic tendencies in older varieties but current broad AU favors rhotic-like pronunciations. Overall, primary stress remains on HITT, with the middle /ɪ/ unaffected. Listen for subtle vowel quality shifts and tempo differences.
It combines two short vowels flanking a light /t/ before a velar nasal /ŋ/. The quick transition requires precise timing: release of /t/ into the alveolar nasal /ŋ/ without an extraneous vowel. Learners often over-articulate the /t/ or merge the schwa; maintaining a crisp, short /ɪ/ before the /t/ helps. Practicing with slow speed, then speed, plus listening to native speakers, will help you lock the timings and produce a natural HITT-ING rhythm.
The stress pattern and the rapid sequence require precise articulation of /t/—a light, barely released stop—before the velar nasal /ŋ/. Unlike many -ing words where /t/ is dropped in casual speech (e.g., 'hitting' sometimes sounds like 'hinin' in very informal speech), standard, carefully enunciated speech preserves the /t/. Keep the mouth ready for the /t/ release, then glide into /ŋ/ without inserting a vowel. This yields a natural, confident HITT-ing.
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The verb hit comes from Old English hittian, related to Old Norse hitta and Middle Dutch hitcha, all tracing back to Proto-Germanic *hitjaną, meaning “to strike, hit, or stab.” In early Germanic usage, the sense was literal: to strike with a hand or weapon. Over time, hit broadened beyond physical impact to include achieving success (as in hitting a target, hitting a mark) and to describe contact in musical or athletic contexts. The present participle hitting emerged as English adopted progressive forms, attaching -ing to the verb to indicate ongoing action. The word’s semantic field expanded in modern English to include figurative meanings (hitting it big, youth culture “hitting” the crowds), while retaining the core sense of forceful contact or impact. First known written attestations appear in Middle English texts around the 13th century, with clear usages in sports and combat literature, and later in generalized metaphorical expressions in Early Modern English. Cross-linguistic cognates exist in German/Hebrew with parallel roots tied to hitting or striking actions. The trajectory reflects a shift from concrete physical action to a versatile, high-frequency word used across domains, from sports to music to social idioms.
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Words that rhyme with "hitting"
-ing sounds
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