How to pronounce give in American English

IPA /gɪv/ Syllables 1 · gihv Stress 1st syllable

GIHV

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Americans pronounce give as GIHV (/gɪv/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Give me five" or "Give it to him" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "give".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

g/g/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. Add vocal cord vibration, then release.

ih/ɪ/

Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.

v/v/

Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.

In real conversation

Hear "give" in the wild.

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

"Can you give me an update on the situation?"

kuhn yoo GIHV mee uhn UHP·dayt ahn dhuh sih·choo·AY·shuhn

"Don't give up on your goals."

DOHNT GIHV UHP ahn yer GOHLZ

"Give it to him."

GIHV iht tuh hihm

"Give me five."

GIHV mee FAHYV

"Give me some water"

GIHV mee suhm WAH·der

"Give me the paper."

GIHV mee dhuh PAY·per

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Questions

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