How to pronounce buys in American English

IPA /baɪz/ Syllables 1 · bahyz Stress 1st syllable

BAHYZ

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Americans pronounce buys as BAHYZ (/baɪz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He always buys more than what is on the shopping list" or "She buys locally grown produce to support sustainable agriculture" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "buys".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

b/b/

Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.

ahy/aɪ/

Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.

z/z/

Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.

In real conversation

Hear "buys" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"He always buys more than what is on the shopping list."

hee AHL·wayz BAHYZ MOR dhuhn WUHT ihz ahn dhuh SHAH·puhng LIHST

"She buys locally grown produce to support sustainable agriculture."

shee BAHYZ LOH·kuh·lee GROHN PROH·doos tuh suh·PORT suh·STAY·nuh·buhl A·gruh·kuhl·cher

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "buys" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "BAHYZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.