How to pronounce makes in American English

IPA /meɪks/ Syllables 1 · mayks Stress 1st syllable

MAYKS

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Americans pronounce makes as MAYKS (/meɪks/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Her smile always makes people feel welcome" or "The frozen food section always makes me feel cold" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "makes".

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

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

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.

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 "makes" in the wild.

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

"Dark matter makes up a large portion of the universe's mass."

DARK MA·der MAYKS UHP uh LARJ POR·shuhn uhv dhuh YOO·nuh·vur·suhz MAS

"Her smile always makes people feel welcome."

her SMAHYL AHL·wayz MAYKS PEE·puhl FEEL WEH·luh·kuhm

"She blow-dries her hair while her husband makes breakfast."

shee BLOH DRAHYZ her HAIR WAHYL her HUHZ·buhnd MAYKS BREHK·fuhst

"She makes her own jewelry using beads and silver wire."

shee MAYKS her ohn JOO·uhl·ree YOO·zuhng BEEDZ and SIHL·ver WAHY·er

"The frozen food section always makes me feel cold."

dhuh FROH·zuhn FOOD SEHK·shuhn AHL·wayz MAYKS mee FEEL KOHLD

"The rhythm of the song makes it perfect for dancing."

dhuh RIH·dhuhm uhv dhuh SAHNG MAYKS iht PUR·fuhkt fer DAN·suhng

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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