How to pronounce cave in American English

IPA /keɪv/ Syllables 1 · kayv Stress 1st syllable

KAYV

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Americans pronounce cave as KAYV (/keɪv/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Have you ever visited the cave in the cove?".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "cave".

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.

v/v/

Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.

In real conversation

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"Have you ever visited the cave in the cove?"

hav yoo EH·ver VIH·zuh·tuhd dhuh KAYV ihn dhuh KOHV

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Questions

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