k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce cases in American English
KAY·suhz
Start here
Americans pronounce cases as KAY-suhz (/ˈkeɪsəz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He specializes in family law and handles divorce cases".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "cases".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KAY — keep everything else short and quick.
kay·SUHZ→KAY·suhz
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
KAY·SUHZ→KAY·suhz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "cases" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KAY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KAY-suhz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "cases" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "KAY-suhz" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "cases" 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 "KAY-suhz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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