How to pronounce my in American English

IPA /maɪ/ Syllables 1 · mahy

mahy

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Americans pronounce my as mahy (/maɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Say my name" or "Hold my hand" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "my".

1 syllable, 2 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.

ahy/aɪ/

Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.

In real conversation

Hear "my" in the wild.

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

"Because the flight was delayed, I missed my connection."

buh·KUHZ dhuh FLAHYT wuhz duh·LAYD ahy MIHST mahy kuh·NEHK·shuhn

"From my perspective, this seems like the best course of action."

fruhm mahy per·SPEHK·tuhv dhihs SEEMZ LAHYK dhuh behst KORS uhv A·shuhn

"He took my friendly advice as a personal insult."

hee TUUK mahy FREHND·lee uhd·VAHYS uhz uh PUR·suh·nuhl IHN·suhlt

"He's my best friend from college."

heez mahy behst FREHND fruhm KAH·luhj

"Hold my hand."

HOHLD mahy HAND

"I accidentally spilled coffee on my keyboard."

ahy a·ksuh·DEHN·tuh·lee SPIHLD KAH·fee ahn mahy KEE·bord

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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