How to pronounce key in American English

IPA /ki/ Syllables 1 · kee Stress 1st syllable

KEE

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Americans pronounce key as KEE (/ki/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The car key was stuck in the crazy lock" or "She agreed to receive the key to the sequence" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "key".

1 syllable, 2 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.

In real conversation

Hear "key" in the wild.

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

"Consumer spending has been a key driver of economic growth."

kuhn·SOO·mer SPEHN·duhng huhz bihn uh KEE DRAHY·ver uhv eh·kuh·NAH·muhk GROHTH

"Could you please summarize the key points from our discussion?"

kuud yoo PLEEZ SUH·muh·rahyz dhuh KEE POYNTS fruhm owr duh·SKUH·shuhn

"Effective communication is the key to successful teamwork."

uh·FEHK·tuhv kuh·myoo·nuh·KAY·shuhn uhz dhuh KEE tuh suhk·SEHS·fuhl TEEM·wurk

"I highlighted key points while reading to identify important concepts."

ahy HAHY·lahy·duhd KEE POYNTS WAHYL REE·duhng tuh ahy·DEHN·tuh·fahy uhm·POR·tuhnt KAHN·sehpts

"Let me walk you through the key features of our product."

LEHT mee WAHK yoo throo dhuh KEE FEE·cherz uhv ar PRAH·duhkt

"She agreed to receive the key to the sequence."

shee uh·GREED tuh ruh·SEEV dhuh KEE tuh dhuh SEE·kwuhns

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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