How to pronounce came in American English

IPA /keɪm/ Syllables 1 · kaym Stress 1st syllable

KAYM

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Americans pronounce came as KAYM (/keɪm/). You'll hear it in sentences like "They came late today" or "The sun came out from under the clouds" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "came".

1 syllable, 3 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.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

In real conversation

Hear "came" in the wild.

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

"He assembled the furniture using the instructions that came in the box."

hee uh·SEHM·buhld dhuh FUR·nuh·cher YOO·zuhng dhee uhn·STRUHK·shuhnz dhuht KAYM uhn dhuh BAHKS

"He lived off campus but came to school for classes daily."

hee LIHVD AHF KAM·puhs buht KAYM tuh SKOOL fer KLA·suhz DAY·lee

"He turned up the volume when his favorite song came on the radio."

hee TURND UHP dhuh VAHL·yoom wehn ihz FAY·ver·uht SAHNG KAYM ahn dhuh RAY·dee·oh

"I forgot to take out the trash before the truck came by."

ahy fer·GAHT tuh TAYK OWT dhuh TRASH buh·FOR dhuh TRUHK KAYM bahy

"Retail sales figures came in stronger than analysts had predicted."

REE·tayl SAYLZ FIH·gyerz KAYM ihn STRAHNG·ger dhuhn A·nuh·luhsts huhd pruh·DIHK·tuhd

"She came back on her bike when he called."

shee KAYM BAK ahn her BAHYK wehn hee KAHLD

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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