How to pronounce means in American English
meenz
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Americans pronounce means as meenz (/minz/).
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"Sustainability means meeting our needs without compromising future generations."
suh·stay·nuh·BIH·luh·tee meenz MEE·duhng owr NEEDZ wih·DHOWT KAHM·pruh·mahy·zuhng FYOO·cher jeh·nuh·RAY·shuhnz
"The pasta should be cooked al dente, which means slightly firm."
dhuh PAH·stuh shuud bee KUUKT ahl DEHN·tay wihch meenz SLAHYT·lee FURM
"The sudden death rule means the next score wins."
dhuh SUH·duhn DEHTH ROOL meenz dhuh NEHKST SKOR WIHNZ
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "means" 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 "meenz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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