How to pronounce pause in American English
PAHZ
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Americans pronounce pause as PAHZ (/pɑz/).
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Why it sounds different
Why "pause" sounds like PAHZ.
The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, what turns word-by-word reading into actual conversation. It comes out as PAHZ.
In real conversation
Hear "pause" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Does the noise cause the boys to pause?"
duhz dhuh NOYZ KAHZ dhuh BOYZ tuh PAHZ
"Peace talks are scheduled to resume after a lengthy pause."
PEES TAHKS er SKEH·joold tuh ruh·ZOOM AF·ter uh LEHNG·thee PAHZ
"The awful sauce caused a pause in the applause."
dhee AH·fuhl SAHS KAHZD uh PAHZ ihn dhee uh·PLAHZ
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "pause" 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 "PAHZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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