How to pronounce cakes in American English

IPA /keɪks/ Syllables 1 · kayks Stress 1st syllable

KAYKS

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Americans pronounce cakes as KAYKS (/keɪks/). You'll hear it in sentences like "She enjoys baking and decorating elaborate cakes for birthdays".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "cakes".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

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"She enjoys baking and decorating elaborate cakes for birthdays."

shee uhn·JOYZ BAY·kuhng and DEH·kuh·ray·duhng uh·LA·ber·uht KAYKS fer BURTH·dayz

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Questions

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Is the American pronunciation of "cakes" 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 "KAYKS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.