How to pronounce eyes in American English

IPA /aɪz/ Syllables 1 · ahyz Stress 1st syllable

AHYZ

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Americans pronounce eyes as AHYZ (/aɪz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "His eyes are closed" or "She wore safety goggles to protect her eyes from chemicals" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "eyes".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

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.

z/z/

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

In real conversation

Hear "eyes" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"His eyes are closed."

hihz AHYZ er KLOHZD

"She wore safety goggles to protect her eyes from chemicals."

shee WOR SAYF·tee GAH·guhlz tuh pruh·TEHKT her AHYZ fruhm KEH·muh·kuhlz

"The ceremony was deeply moving and brought tears to many eyes."

dhuh SEH·ruh·moh·nee wuhz DEE·plee MOO·vuhng and BRAHT TEERZ tuh MEH·nee AHYZ

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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