How to pronounce fries in American English

IPA /fraɪz/ Syllables 1 · frahyz Stress 1st syllable

FRAHYZ

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Americans pronounce fries as FRAHYZ (/fraɪz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The main course comes with a choice of soup, salad, or fries".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "fries".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

f/f/

Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

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

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"The main course comes with a choice of soup, salad, or fries."

dhuh MAYN KORS kuhmz wihth uh CHOYS uhv SOOP SA·luhd or FRAHYZ

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Questions

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