How to pronounce wife in American English

IPA /waɪf/ Syllables 1 · wahyf

wahyf

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Americans pronounce wife as wahyf (/waɪf/). You'll hear it in sentences like "I will confirm with my wife and let you know by tonight".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "wife".

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

w/w/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.

ahy/aɪ/

Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.

f/f/

Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "wife" in the wild.

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"I will confirm with my wife and let you know by tonight."

ahy wihl kuhn·FURM wihth mahy wahyf and LEHT yoo NOH bahy tuh·NAHYT

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Questions

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