How to pronounce sauce in American English

IPA /sɑs/ Syllables 1 · sahs Stress 1st syllable

SAHS

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Americans pronounce sauce as SAHS (/sɑs/).

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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"He cooked the pan with butter and herbs to make a delicious sauce."

hee KUUKT dhuh PAN wihth BUH·ter uhnd URBZ tuh MAYK uh duh·LIH·shuhs SAHS

"She asked the clerk where to find the pasta sauce."

shee ASKT dhuh KLURK wair tuh FAHYND dhuh PAH·stuh SAHS

"The awful sauce caused a pause in the applause."

dhee AH·fuhl SAHS KAHZD uh PAHZ ihn dhee uh·PLAHZ

"The sauce needs to simmer on low heat for thirty minutes."

dhuh SAHS NEEDZ tuh SIH·mer ahn LOH HEET fer THUR·dee MIH·nuhts

Questions

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

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