How to pronounce sage in American English

IPA /seɪdʒ/ Syllables 1 · sayj Stress 1st syllable

SAYJ

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Americans pronounce sage as SAYJ (/seɪdʒ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Manage the rage and engage the sage".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "sage".

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

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

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.

j/dʒ/

Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.

In real conversation

Hear "sage" in the wild.

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"Manage the rage and engage the sage."

MA·nuhj dhuh RAYJ and uhn·GAYJ dhuh SAYJ

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Questions

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