How to pronounce size in American English

IPA /saɪz/ Syllables 1 · sahyz Stress 1st syllable

SAHYZ

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Americans pronounce size as SAHYZ (/saɪz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "What size are those shoes?" or "The size of the fine kite was quite high" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "size".

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.

z/z/

Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.

In real conversation

Hear "size" in the wild.

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

"The class size was limited to encourage more interaction."

dhuh KLAS SAHYZ wuhz LIH·muh·tuhd tuh uhn·KUR·ihj MOR ihn·ter·AK·shuhn

"The sample size was large enough to draw valid conclusions."

dhuh SAM·puhl SAHYZ wuhz LARJ uh·NUHF tuh DRAH VA·luhd kuhn·KLOO·zhuhnz

"The sample size was large enough to ensure statistical significance."

dhuh SAM·puhl SAHYZ wuhz LARJ uh·NUHF tuh uhn·SHUUR stuh·TIH·stuh·kuhl sihg·NIH·fuh·kuhns

"The size of the fine kite was quite high."

dhuh SAHYZ uhv dhuh FAHYN KAHYT wuhz KWAHYT HAHY

"What size are those shoes?"

wuht SAHYZ er dhohz SHOOZ

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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