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.
How to pronounce decade in American English
DEH·kayd
Start here
Americans pronounce decade as DEH-kayd (/ˈdɛkeɪd/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in a decade" or "We are gathering to honor his achievements over the past decade" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "decade".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
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.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "decade" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"The corporation pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by the decade."
dhuh kor·puh·RAY·shuhn plehjd too uh·CHEEV KAR·buhn noo·TRA·luh·tee bahy dhuh DEH·kayd
"The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in a decade."
dhee uhn·uhm·PLOY·muhnt RAYT DRAHPT tuh ihts LOH·uhst LEH·vuhl ihn uh DEH·kayd
"We are gathering to honor his achievements over the past decade."
wee er GA·dher·uhng tuh AH·ner hihz uh·CHEEV·muhnts OH·ver dhuh PAST DEH·kayd
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "decade", the "d" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
decade→DEH·kayd
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch DEH — keep everything else short and quick.
deh·KAYD→DEH·kayd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "decade" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "DEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "DEH-kayd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "decade" 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 "DEH-kayd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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