How to pronounce case in American English

IPA /keɪs/ Syllables 1 · kays Stress 1st syllable

KAYS

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Americans pronounce case as KAYS (/keɪs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The chaotic character caused a crack in the case" or "The burden of proof lies with the prosecution in this case" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "case".

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.

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

Hear "case" in the wild.

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

"The burden of proof lies with the prosecution in this case."

dhuh BUR·duhn uhv PROOF LAHYZ wihth dhuh prah·suh·KYOO·shuhn ihn dhihs KAYS

"The chaotic character caused a crack in the case."

dhuh kay·AH·duhk KEH·ruhk·ter KAHZD uh KRAK ihn dhuh KAYS

"The prenup agreement protected her assets in case of divorce."

dhuh PREE·nuhp uh·GREE·muhnt pruh·TEHK·tuhd her A·sehts ihn KAYS uhv duh·VORS

"The prosecution rested its case after calling the final witness."

dhuh prah·suh·KYOO·shuhn REH·stuhd ihts KAYS AF·ter KAH·luhng dhuh FAHY·nuhl WIHT·nuhs

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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