How to pronounce calls in American English
KAHLZ
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Americans pronounce calls as KAHLZ (/kɑlz/).
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"He is the quarterback of the football team and calls the plays."
hee ihz dhuh KWOR·der·bak uhv dhuh FUUT·bahl TEEM and KAHLZ dhuh PLAYZ
"The recipe calls for two cups of flour and one edible flower."
dhuh REH·suh·pee KAHLZ fer TOO KUHPS uhv FLOW·er uhnd wuhn EH·duh·buhl FLOW·er
"The recipe calls for two tablespoons of olive oil and minced garlic."
dhuh REH·suh·pee KAHLZ fer TOO TAY·buhl·spoonz uhv AH·luhv OYL and MIHNST GAR·luhk
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Treating every L the same.
The L in "calls" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
calls→KAHLZ
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "calls" 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 "KAHLZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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