How to pronounce his in American English

IPA /hɪz/ Syllables 1 · hihz

hihz

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Americans pronounce his as hihz (/hɪz/). The "h" in "his" is dropped in connected speech — the preceding word's final consonant links directly to the remaining vowel — most natural in casual, rapid speech; in careful or formal speech, the H is typically kept. This is called the Silent H (in him, her, has), what happens when a function word stops trying to be heard. It comes out as hihz. You'll hear it in sentences like "Look at his foot" or "His eyes are closed" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "his".

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

h/h/

Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.

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.

z/z/

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

In real conversation

Hear "his" in the wild.

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

"Arthur had a toothache in his mouth south."

AR·ther had uh TOOTH·ayk ihn hihz MOWTH SOWTH

"Beck hurt his back while riding a heavy bike."

BEHK HURT hihz BAK WAHYL RAHY·duhng uh HEH·vee BAHYK

"Bring a cup of water to the cop who lost his cap."

BRIHNG uh KUHP uhv WAH·der tuh dhuh KAHP hoo LAHST hihz KAP

"Even though it was late, he decided to finish his work."

EE·vuhn dhoh iht wuhz LAYT hee duh·SAHY·duhd tuh FIH·nuhsh hihz WURK

"Every muscle in his arm ached after cooking the mussel dish."

EHV·ree MUH·suhl ihn hihz ARM AYKT AF·ter KUU·kuhng dhuh MUH·suhl DIHSH

"He always tries his best."

hee AHL·wayz TRAHYZ hihz BEHST

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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