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 does in American English
duhz
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Americans pronounce does as duhz (/dʌz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Does he sneeze?" or "How much does this cost?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "does".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "does" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Does he sneeze?"
duhz hee SNEEZ
"Does he think the soap is in the sink?"
duhz hee THIHNGK dhuh SOHP ihz ihn dhuh SIHNGK
"Does the judge have enough money for lunch?"
duhz dhuh JUHJ hav uh·NUHF MUH·nee fer LUHNCH
"He does push-ups and sit-ups every morning."
hee duhz PUUSH uhps and SIHT uhps EHV·ree MOR·nuhng
"How much does this cost?"
HOW muhch duhz dhihs kahst
"She does some light stretching exercises every morning."
shee duhz suhm LAHYT STREH·chuhng EHK·ser·sahy·zuhz EHV·ree MOR·nuhng
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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
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
DUHZ→duhz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "does" 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 "duhz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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