How to pronounce sides in American English

IPA /saɪdz/ Syllables 1 · sahydz Stress 1st syllable

SAHYDZ

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Americans pronounce sides as SAHYDZ (/saɪdz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The settlement terms are fair and reasonable for both sides".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "sides".

1 syllable, 4 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.

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 "sides" in the wild.

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"The settlement terms are fair and reasonable for both sides."

dhuh SEH·duhl·muhnt TURMZ er FAIR and REE·zuh·nuh·buhl fer BOHTH SAHYDZ

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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