How to pronounce sign in American English

IPA /saɪn/ Syllables 1 · sahyn Stress 1st syllable

SAHYN

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Americans pronounce sign as SAHYN (/saɪn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Do I need to sign this form here?" or "The bat is on the bed, which is a bad sign" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "sign".

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.

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.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

In real conversation

Hear "sign" in the wild.

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

"All visitors must sign in and receive a safety orientation."

AHL VIH·zuh·terz muhst SAHYN ihn and ruh·SEEV uh SAYF·tee or·ee·uhn·TAY·shuhn

"Do I need to sign this form here?"

doo ahy NEED tuh SAHYN dhihs FORM HEER

"I tried to find the right time to sign the line."

ahy TRAHYD tuh FAHYND dhuh RAHYT TAHYM tuh SAHYN dhuh LAHYN

"The bat is on the bed, which is a bad sign."

dhuh BAT ihz ahn dhuh BEHD wihch ihz uh BAD SAHYN

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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