How to pronounce vase in American English

IPA /veɪs/ Syllables 1 · vays Stress 1st syllable
VAYS
Start here

Americans pronounce vase as VAYS (/veɪs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "My brother broke the new vase" or "The old vase was waiting in the vault by the window" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "vase" 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 "vase".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

v/v/

Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.

Mouth position for /v/ as in VAN
ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

s/s/

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

Mouth position for /s/ as in SUN
In real conversation

Hear "vase" in the wild.

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

"My brother broke the new vase."
mahy BRUH·dher BROHK dhuh noo VAYS
"The old vase was waiting in the vault by the window."
dhee OHLD VAYS wuhz WAY·tuhng ihn dhuh VAHLT bahy dhuh WIHN·doh
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 "vase" 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 "VAYS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Stop reading about "vase". Start saying it.

SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.