How to pronounce dunes in American English

IPA /dunz/ Syllables 1 · doonz Stress 1st syllable

DOONZ

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Americans pronounce dunes as DOONZ (/dunz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The sand dunes shift constantly with the wind".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "dunes".

1 syllable, 4 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.

oo/u/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

z/z/

Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.

In real conversation

Hear "dunes" in the wild.

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"The sand dunes shift constantly with the wind."

dhuh SAND DOONZ SHIHFT KAHN·stuhnt·lee wihth dhuh WIHND

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Questions

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