How to pronounce pass in American English

IPA /pæs/ Syllables 1 · pas Stress 1st syllable

PAS

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Americans pronounce pass as PAS (/pæs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Pass the glass" or "Can you pass the pepper, please?" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "pass".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

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 "pass" in the wild.

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

"Can you pass me that cup and that glass?"

kuhn yoo PAS mee DHAT KUHP and DHAT GLAS

"Can you pass me the salt, please?"

kuhn yuh PAS mee dhuh SAHLT PLEEZ

"Can you pass the pepper, please?"

kuhn yoo PAS dhuh PEH·per PLEEZ

"I bought a monthly pass for unlimited subway rides."

ahy BAHT uh MUHNTH·lee PAS fer uhn·LIH·muh·tuhd SUHB·way RAHYDZ

"Pass the glass."

PAS dhuh GLAS

"Please pass the salt from your side."

PLEEZ PAS dhuh SAHLT fruhm yer SAHYD

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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