How to pronounce piece in American English

IPA /pis/ Syllables 1 · pees Stress 1st syllable

PEES

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Americans pronounce piece as PEES (/pis/). You'll hear it in sentences like "A piece of paper" or "Would you like a piece of cake?" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "piece".

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.

ee/i/

Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.

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 "piece" in the wild.

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

"A piece of paper."

uh PEES uhv PAY·per

"I admire the intricate details in this piece of pottery."

ahy uhd·MAHYR dhee IHN·truh·kuht DEE·taylz ihn dhihs PEES uhv PAH·duh·ree

"What a valuable piece of advice."

WUHT uh VAL·yoo·uh·buhl PEES uhv uhd·VAHYS

"Would you like a piece of cake?"

wuud yuh LAHYK uh PEES uhv KAYK

"I criticize the piece for lacking emotional depth or meaning."

ahy KRIH·duh·sahyz dhuh PEES fer LA·kuhng ih·MOH·shuh·nuhl dehpth or MEE·nuhng

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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