r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
How to pronounce rides in American English
RAHYDZ
Start here
Americans pronounce rides as RAHYDZ (/raɪdz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I bought a monthly pass for unlimited subway rides" or "She rides horses and competes in show jumping events" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "rides".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "rides" in the wild.
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "rides" 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 "RAHYDZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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