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 stores in American English
STORZ
Start here
Americans pronounce stores as STORZ (/stɔrz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The silo stores grain to keep it dry and safe" or "Are there any other grocery stores around here?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "stores".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "stores" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Are there any other grocery stores around here?"
ar DHAIR EH·nee UH·dher GROH·suh·ree STORZ uh·ROWND HEER
"The barn stores hay for the animals to eat during winter."
dhuh BARN STORZ HAY fer dhee A·nuh·muhlz tuh EET DUUR·uhng WIHN·ter
"The silo stores grain to keep it dry and safe."
dhuh SAHY·loh STORZ GRAYN tuh KEEP iht DRAHY and SAYF
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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
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "stores"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "stores" 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 "STORZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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