One syllable: chased.
chayst
/tʃeɪst/
chased is pronounced chayst (/tʃeɪst/). It has one syllable (chased), with the stress on "chased". Chased is the past tense of chase, meaning to pursue or run after someone or something with intent to catch. In spoken English, it is typically a single-syllable word with a final /tʃt/ cluster in many dialects when pronounced quickly, though standard careful speech ends with the /t/ sound. The word carries a sense of action completed in the past, often used in narratives or reports of events.
Chased is the past tense of chase, meaning to pursue or run after someone or something with intent to catch. In spoken English, it is typically a single-syllable word with a final /tʃt/ cluster in many dialects when pronounced quickly, though standard careful speech ends with the /t/ sound. The word carries a sense of action completed in the past, often used in narratives or reports of events.
- You might underplay the final -ed sound and merge it with the preceding consonant, saying e.g. /tʃeɪz/ instead of /tʃeɪst/. Practice by isolating the /st/ release: /st/ must arrive as a crisp, separate cluster after the /eɪ/. - Another error is treating /tʃ/ as a simple /ʃ/; keep the affricate onset as /tʃ/ and then glide into the diphthong. - Some learners drop the vowel length or swallow the /eɪ/; ensure you maintain the full diphthong from /e/ toward /ɪ/ even in fast speech.
"The dog chased the mail carrier down the street."
"She chased her dreams despite the obstacles."
"The thief chased the getaway car but lost sight of it."
Pronounce as /tʃeɪst/. Start with the /tʃ/ as in chair, glide into the long /eɪ/ vowel, then end with the /st/ cluster. In careful speech you hear the /d/ only if the stem holds it, but for chased the final sound is typically a long /t/ plus a light /s/ due to assimilation; many speakers realize it as /tʃeɪst/ with a brief release before the /t/. IPA: US/UK/AU: /tʃeɪst/.
Common mistakes: 1) Dropping the /t/ and saying /tʃeɪs/ or /tʃeɪz/; 2) Using a lazy /d/ that sounds like /ɡ/ or /d/ becomes a voiced stop in rapid speech; 3) Misplacing the /eɪ/ vowel as a shorter /e/ or /ɛ/. Correction: ensure the mid-century /tʃ/ onset is crisp, the /eɪ/ is a true diphthong (start near /e/ then glide to /ɪ/), and release into /st/ cleanly with a final /t/ release. Use careful enunciation in slow speech, then taper to natural speed.
In US English, /tʃeɪst/ often ends with a strong /st/ cluster; the /t/ is released, sometimes with a slight unvoiced touch. UK English tends toward a crisper /t/ and very clear /ʃ/ and /t/; AU English may merge or flapped-like quicker transitions in rapid speech but maintains the /tʃeɪst/ core. Across accents, the rhotics aren’t primary here, but vowel length and the degree of vowel reduction can shift: Americans might have a more pronounced diphthong; Brits may keep a tighter /eɪ/ and a brief pause before /st/.
Yes. The word’s final cluster /st/ can carry a subtle voiceless release, particularly in fast dialogue. You’ll hear a brief aspirated /t/ before the /s/—more noticeable in careful speech—and some speakers may voice the /d/ in casual speech turning it toward a /t/ or /d/ mix depending on neighboring sounds. Focusing on a clean /t/ release before /s/ helps clarity and avoids the common /fe/ confusion.
The nucleus is the /eɪ/ diphthong. In US and UK English it remains a predominant /eɪ/; in some Australian speech you’ll hear a slightly flatter or more centralized vowel due to Australian vowel shifts, but the /eɪ/ generally remains a rising glide to /ɪ/ before the /st/ cluster. The main variation lies in the precise tongue height and jaw openness during the diphthong, not in the vowel becoming markedly different.
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- US: stress typically on the syllable with the onset /tʃeɪ/; keep the diphthong bright and the /t/ released clearly before /st/. - UK: crisper /t/ and slightly shorter /eɪ/ before /st/; maintain non-rhoticity means the /r/ isn't present, but you still keep the /t/ fully released. - AU: more vowel height variation in /eɪ/, sometimes a slightly different jaw position; keep the /t/ release distinct and the cluster /st/ crisp.
Chased derives from the verb chase, which comes from the Old North French chacier, from chacier meaning to hunt or pursue. The noun/verb chase has Germanic roots with the Proto-Germanic *kaikōną, related to chasing and hunting actions. In Middle English, chased appeared as past tense forms of chase, influenced by Old French chasser and Scandinavian counterparts, reflecting a long-standing association with pursuit. The semantic shift from hunting to pursuit in a general sense occurred over centuries, with the modern usage focusing on pursuing an objective or person rather than literal hunting. The first known use in print of chase-as-a-past-tense form appears in early modern English texts, where writers used chased to describe completed pursuit actions in narratives, legal records, and colloquial speech, gradually standardizing the -ed past tense spelling." ,
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "chased" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "chased"
-hed sounds
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