How to pronounce spends in American English

IPA /spɛndz/ Syllables 1 · spehndz Stress 1st syllable

SPEHNDZ

Start here

Americans pronounce spends as SPEHNDZ (/spɛndz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "He spends his weekends coding small games and applications".

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "spends" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "spends".

1 syllable, 6 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.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

eh/ɛ/

Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.

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.

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 "spends" in the wild.

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

"He spends his weekends coding small games and applications."

hee SPEHNDZ hihz WEE·kehndz KOH·duhng SMAHL GAYMZ and a·pluh·KAY·shuhnz

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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