How to pronounce keeps in American English

IPA /kips/ Syllables 1 · keeps Stress 1st syllable

KEEPS

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Americans pronounce keeps as KEEPS (/kips/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The drive to survive keeps the mind alive" or "He keeps a tropical fish tank in his living room" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "keeps".

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

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

ee/i/

Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

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 "keeps" in the wild.

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

"Gravity is the force that keeps the planets in orbit."

GRA·vuh·dee ihz dhuh FORS dhuht KEEPS dhuh PLA·nuhts ihn OR·buht

"He keeps a notebook to record his observations of plant growth."

hee KEEPS uh NOHT·buuk tuh REH·kerd hihz ahb·zer·VAY·shuhnz uhv PLANT GROHTH

"He keeps a tropical fish tank in his living room."

hee KEEPS uh TRAH·puh·kuhl FIHSH TANGK ihn hihz LIH·vuhng ROOM

"She keeps a journal to practice writing in her second language."

shee KEEPS uh JUR·nuhl tuh PRAK·tuhs RAHY·duhng ihn her SEH·kuhnd LANG·gwuhj

"She keeps all her important legal documents in a fireproof safe."

shee KEEPS AHL her uhm·POR·tuhnt LEE·guhl DAH·kyuh·muhnts ihn uh FAHY·er·proof SAYF

"The drive to survive keeps the mind alive."

dhuh DRAHYV tuh ser·VAHYV KEEPS dhuh MAHYND uh·LAHYV

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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