How to pronounce tissues in American English
TIH·shooz
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Americans pronounce tissues as TIH-shooz (/ˈtɪʃuz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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"Proteins are essential for the structure and function of body tissues."
PROH·teenz er uh·SEHN·shuhl fer dhuh STRUHK·cher and FUHNGK·shuhn uhv BAH·dee TIH·shooz
"The autoimmune disease causes the body to attack its own tissues."
dhee ah·toh·ih·MYOON duh·ZEEZ KAH·zuhz dhuh BAH·dee tuh uh·TAK ihts ohn TIH·shooz
Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch TIH — keep everything else short and quick.
tih·SHOOZ→TIH·shooz
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "tissues" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "TIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "TIH-shooz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "tissues" 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 "TIH-shooz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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