m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
How to pronounce make in American English
MAYK
Start here
Americans pronounce make as MAYK (/meɪk/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Make a choice" or "Make more money" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "make".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "make" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He cooked the pan with butter and herbs to make a delicious sauce."
hee KUUKT dhuh PAN wihth BUH·ter uhnd URBZ tuh MAYK uh duh·LIH·shuhs SAHS
"I apologize for the short notice but I cannot make it tonight."
ahy uh·PAH·luh·jahyz fer dhuh SHORT NOH·duhs buht ahy KA·naht MAYK iht tuh·NAHYT
"I appreciate you giving me another chance to make things right."
ahy uh·PREE·shee·ayt yoo GIH·vuhng mee uh·NUH·dher CHANS tuh MAYK THIHNGZ RAHYT
"I donated my old books to a charity shop to make space."
ahy DOH·nay·tuhd mahy OHLD BUUKS tuh uh CHEH·ruh·tee SHAHP tuh MAYK SPAYS
"I have to make a quick phone call."
ahy hav tuh MAYK uh KWIHK FOHN KAHL
"I'm glad you were able to make it."
ahym GLAD yoo wer AY·buhl tuh MAYK iht
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "make", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
make→MAYK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "make" 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 "MAYK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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