How to pronounce genes in American English

IPA /dʒinz/ Syllables 1 · jeenz Stress 1st syllable

JEENZ

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Americans pronounce genes as JEENZ (/dʒinz/).

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Why it sounds different

Why "genes" sounds like JEENZ.

The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, the way sentences stop sounding like a list and start sounding like speech. It comes out as JEENZ.

In real conversation

Hear "genes" in the wild.

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

"He explained how dominant and recessive genes determine eye color."

hee uhk·SPLAYND HOW DAH·muh·nuhnt and ruh·SEH·suhv JEENZ duh·TUR·muhn AHY KUH·ler

"The human genome project mapped all the genes in human DNA."

dhuh HYOO·muhn JEE·nohm PRAH·jehkt MAPT AHL dhuh JEENZ ihn HYOO·muhn dee·ehn·AY

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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