How to pronounce class in American English

IPA /klæs/ Syllables 1 · klas Stress 1st syllable

KLAS

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Americans pronounce class as KLAS (/klæs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I have to study for my math class" or "His brother is in the same class as me" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "class".

1 syllable, 4 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.

l/l/

Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

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 "class" in the wild.

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

"He analyzed the symbolism in the text for his literature class."

hee A·nuh·lahyzd dhuh SIHM·buh·lih·zuhm ihn dhuh TEHKST fer hihz LIH·duh·ruh·chur KLAS

"He explained the phases of the moon to the class."

hee uhk·SPLAYND dhuh FAY·zuhz uhv dhuh MOON tuh dhuh KLAS

"He was nervous about the oral examination for his language class."

hee wuhz NUR·vuhs uh·BOWT dhee OR·uhl ihg·za·muh·NAY·shuhn fer hihz LANG·gwuhj KLAS

"His brother is in the same class as me."

hihz BRUH·dher ihz ihn dhuh SAYM KLAS uhz mee

"I had to drop a class because my schedule was too overwhelming."

ahy had tuh DRAHP uh KLAS buh·KUHZ mahy SKEH·juhl wuhz TOO oh·ver·WEHL·muhng

"I have to study for my math class."

ahy hav tuh STUH·dee fer mahy MATH KLAS

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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