How to pronounce clay in American English

IPA /kleɪ/ Syllables 1 · klay Stress 1st syllable

KLAY

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Americans pronounce clay as KLAY (/kleɪ/).

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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72% Noticeable accent

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"She attends a pottery workshop to learn how to throw clay."

shee uh·TEHNDZ uh PAH·duh·ree WURK·shahp tuh LURN HOW tuh THROH KLAY

Questions

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

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