How to pronounce glass in American English

IPA /glæs/ Syllables 1 · glas Stress 1st syllable

GLAS

Start here

Americans pronounce glass as GLAS (/glæs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Pass the glass" or "Could I get a glass of water, please?" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "glass" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "glass".

1 syllable, 4 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.

l/l/

Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "glass" in the wild.

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

"Can you pass me that cup and that glass?"

kuhn yoo PAS mee DHAT KUHP and DHAT GLAS

"Could I get a glass of water, please?"

kuud ahy GEHT uh GLAS uhv WAH·ter PLEEZ

"I always have a glass of milk before bed."

ahy AHL·wayz hav uh GLAS uhv MIHLK buh·FOR BEHD

"Pass the glass."

PAS dhuh GLAS

"The girl gave the guest a glass of glue."

dhuh GURL GAYV dhuh GEHST uh GLAS uhv GLOO

"The glass broke right after he filled it."

dhuh GLAS BROHK RAHYT AF·ter hee FIHLD iht

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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