How to pronounce day in American English

IPA /deɪ/ Syllables 1 · day Stress 1st syllable

DAY

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Americans pronounce day as DAY (/deɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" or "It's a beautiful day for a hike" — more examples below.

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Stress

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Intonation

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "day".

1 syllable, 2 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.

In real conversation

Hear "day" in the wild.

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

"David did the deed during the difficult day."

DAY·vuhd dihd dhuh DEED DUUR·uhng dhuh DIH·fuh·kuhlt DAY

"He had a bad day and sat on the bed near the bat."

hee had uh BAD DAY uhnd SAT ahn dhuh BEHD NEER dhuh BAT

"He read the book in a single day."

hee REHD dhuh BUUK ihn uh SIHNG·guhl DAY

"He uses flashcards to memorize new vocabulary words every day."

hee YOO·zuhz FLASH·kardz tuh MEH·muh·rahyz noo voh·KA·byuh·leh·ree WURDZ EHV·ree DAY

"I am honored to be part of your wedding party on your special day."

ahy am AH·nerd tuh bee PART uhv yer WEH·duhng PAR·tee ahn yer SPEH·shuhl DAY

"I brush my teeth three times a day."

ahy BRUHSH mahy TEETH THREE TAHYMZ uh DAY

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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