How to pronounce that's in American English

IPA /ðæts/ Syllables 1 · dhats

dhats

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Americans pronounce that's as dhats (/ðæts/). In fast speech, the vowel in "that's" vanishes — the "ih" is completely elided, leaving only a quick "ts" cluster — this is a feature of casual, connected speech; in careful speech, the vowel is retained. This is called the Short Contractions (it's, that's), a quick, quiet beat that keeps content words in focus. It comes out as dhats. You'll hear it in sentences like "That's a bad place to put your bed" or "That's a real lifesaver, thank you" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "that's".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

dh/ð/

Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.

a/æ/

Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.

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.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "that's" in the wild.

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

"I don't think that's the right approach."

ahy DOHNT thihngk dhats dhuh RAHYT uh·PROHCH

"That's a bad place to put your bed."

dhats uh BAD PLAYS tuh PUUT yer BEHD

"That's a fun fact I didn't know until now."

dhats uh FUHN FAKT ahy DIH·duhnt NOH uhn·TIHL NOW

"That's a real lifesaver, thank you."

dhats uh REE·uhl LAHYF·say·ver THANGK yoo

"That's definitely not what I meant."

dhats DEH·fuh·nuht·lee NAHT wuht ahy MEHNT

"That's exactly what I was trying to say."

dhats ihg·ZAKT·lee wuht ahy wuhz TRAHY·uhng tuh SAY

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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