How to pronounce pay in American English

IPA /peɪ/ Syllables 1 · pay Stress 1st syllable

PAY

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Americans pronounce pay as PAY (/peɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Please pay the price" or "Please pay the parking permit price promptly" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "pay".

1 syllable, 2 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.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "pay" in the wild.

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

"He was convicted of fraud and ordered to pay restitution."

hee wuhz kuhn·VIHK·tuhd uhv FRAHD and OR·derd tuh PAY rehs·tuh·TOO·shuhn

"Please pay the parking permit price promptly."

PLEEZ PAY dhuh PAR·kuhng PUR·muht PRAHYS PRAHMPT·lee

"The court order mandates that he pay full restitution."

dhuh KORT OR·der MAN·dayts dhuht hee PAY FUUL rehs·tuh·TOO·shuhn

"The court ordered him to pay child support every month."

dhuh KORT OR·derd hihm tuh PAY CHAHYLD suh·PORT EHV·ree muhnth

"You can pay with cash, a credit card, or a mobile app."

yoo kuhn PAY wihth KASH uh KREH·duht KARD or uh MOH·buhl AP

"Please pay the price."

PLEEZ PAY dhuh PRAHYS

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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