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 studies in American English
STUH·deez
Start here
Americans pronounce studies as STUH-deez (/ˈstʌdiz/). In "studies", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. So instead of STUH·teez, you get STUH·deez. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He studies biology and chemistry in college" or "He cited previous studies to support his argument" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "studies".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then 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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
d/d/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Same as Flap T — a quick tap without stopping airflow.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "studies" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He cited previous studies to support his argument."
hee SAHY·duhd PREE·vee·uhs STUH·deez tuh suh·PORT hihz AR·gyuh·muhnt
"He studies biology and chemistry in college."
hee STUH·deez bahy·AH·luh·jee and CHEH·muh·stree ihn KAH·luhj
"He studies oceanography to understand marine ecosystems."
hee STUH·deez oh·shuh·NAH·gruh·fee tuh uhn·der·STAND muh·REEN EE·koh·sihs·tuhmz
"He studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats."
hee STUH·deez dhuh buh·HAY·vyer uhv A·nuh·muhlz ihn dhair NA·cher·uhl HA·buh·tats
"Quantum mechanics studies the behavior of particles at the atomic level."
KWAHN·tuhm muh·KA·nuhks STUH·deez dhuh buh·HAY·vyer uhv PAR·tuh·kuhlz uht dhee uh·TAH·muhk LEH·vuhl
"She studies epidemiology to track the spread of diseases."
shee STUH·deez eh·puh·dee·mee·AH·luh·jee tuh TRAK dhuh SPREHD uhv dih·ZEE·zuhz
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "studies", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
STUH-teez→STUH·deez
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch STUH — keep everything else short and quick.
stuh·DEEZ→STUH·deez
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "studies" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "STUH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "STUH-deez" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "studies"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "studies" sounds closer to "STUH-deez" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Is the American pronunciation of "studies" 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 "STUH-deez" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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