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 decades in American English
DEH·kaydz
Start here
Americans pronounce decades as DEH-kaydz (/ˈdɛkeɪdz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The literature review covered decades of research on the topic" or "Campaign finance reform has been a contentious issue for decades" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "decades" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "decades".
2 syllables, 6 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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "decades" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Campaign finance reform has been a contentious issue for decades."
kam·PAYN FAHY·nans ruh·FORM huhz bihn uh kuhn·TEHN·shuhs IH·shoo fer DEH·kaydz
"Income inequality has widened considerably over the past decades."
IHN·kuhm uhn·uh·KWAH·luh·dee huhz WAHY·duhnd kuhn·SIH·der·uh·blee OH·ver dhuh PAST DEH·kaydz
"The literature review covered decades of research on the topic."
dhuh LIH·duh·ruh·chur ruh·VYOO KUH·verd DEH·kaydz uhv REE·surch ahn dhuh TAH·puhk
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch DEH — keep everything else short and quick.
deh·KAYDZ→DEH·kaydz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "decades" 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-kaydz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "decades" 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-kaydz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "decades". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.