How to pronounce dive in American English

IPA /daɪv/ Syllables 1 · dahyv Stress 1st syllable

DAHYV

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Americans pronounce dive as DAHYV (/daɪv/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Five lives were saved by the brave dive".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "dive".

1 syllable, 3 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.

ahy/aɪ/

Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.

v/v/

Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.

In real conversation

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"Five lives were saved by the brave dive."

FAHYV LAHYVZ wer SAYVD bahy dhuh BRAYV DAHYV

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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