s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce sideways in American English
SAHYD·wayz
Start here
Americans pronounce sideways as SAHYD-wayz (/ˈsaɪdˌweɪz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The crab scuttled sideways across the sand".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "sideways".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then 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.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "sideways", the "d" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
sideways→SAHYD·WAYZ
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch SAHYD — keep everything else short and quick.
sahyd·WAYZ→SAHYD·WAYZ
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "sideways" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SAHYD" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SAHYD-wayz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "sideways" 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 "SAHYD-wayz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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