How to pronounce say in American English

IPA /seɪ/ Syllables 1 · say Stress 1st syllable

SAY

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Americans pronounce say as SAY (/seɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Say my name" or "I didn't say he stole the money" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "say".

1 syllable, 2 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.

In real conversation

Hear "say" in the wild.

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

"Did you say the temperature is thirteen degrees?"

dihd yuh SAY dhuh TEHM·pruh·cher ihz ther·TEEN duh·GREEZ

"I didn't say he stole the money."

ahy DIH·duhnt SAY hee STOHL dhuh MUH·nee

"I don't understand what you're trying to say."

ahy dohnt uhn·der·STAND wuht yer TRAHY·uhng tuh SAY

"I was wrong to say that and I wish I could take it back."

ahy wuhz RAHNG tuh SAY dhat and ahy WIHSH ahy kuud TAYK iht BAK

"I will walk to work and say a word to the world."

ahy wihl WAHK tuh WURK uhnd SAY uh WURD tuh dhuh WURLD

"Say my name."

SAY mahy NAYM

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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