How to pronounce dates in American English

IPA /deɪts/ Syllables 1 · dayts Stress 1st syllable

DAYTS

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Americans pronounce dates as DAYTS (/deɪts/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He has a criminal record that dates back several years".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "dates".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

d/d/

Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you 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.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

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

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

"He has a criminal record that dates back several years."

hee huhz uh KRIH·muh·nuhl REH·kerd dhuht DAYTS BAK SEHV·ruhl YEERZ

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Questions

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