One syllable: Mews.
myooz
/mjuːz/
Mews is pronounced myooz (/mjuːz/). It has one syllable (Mews), with the stress on "Mews". Mews is a plural noun meaning a row or courtyard of small houses, typically with a shared wall, or a street of stables converted to living spaces. In modern usage, mews often refers to a charming, quiet residential area or to collectively named lanes adjacent to a larger street. The term conveys a distinct urban, historic character, often in British contexts, and can denote private courtyards or the houses within them.
nounMews is a plural noun meaning a row or courtyard of small houses, typically with a shared wall, or a street of stables converted to living spaces. In modern usage, mews often refers to a charming, quiet residential area or to collectively named lanes adjacent to a larger street. The term conveys a distinct urban, historic character, often in British contexts, and can denote private courtyards or the houses within them.
How to Pronounce Mews
"The city’s mews are tucked behind cobblestones and brick facades."
"They bought a renovated mews house with a sunny courtyard."
"Tourists wandered through the quiet mews, away from the main roads."
Pronounce it as /mjuːz/ in all three major accents. It starts with an initial bilabial /m/ followed by a y-glide and a long /uː/ vowel, then a voiced /z/. Your mouth should form a light /j/ sound after /m/ (like mew-s), with the tongue high and back for /uː/. There’s no stress shift since it’s monosyllabic. For quick checks, imagine saying ‘mews’ like ‘mew-s’ with a single smooth vowel. Audio resources: listen to native pronunciations on Pronounce or Forvo for confirmation.
Common errors include turning /juː/ into a quick /u/ or dropping the /j/ entirely, producing /muːz/ or /muːz/ without the y- glide. Another mistake is mispronouncing the final /z/ as /s/ in plural forms. To correct: keep a light /j/ after /m/ as in /mjuːz/, extend the /uː/ vowel, and vocalize the final voice as a crisp /z/ rather than voiceless /s/.
In US, UK, and AU, /mjuːz/ remains similar, but the preceding /j/ may be more or less pronounced. UK English may realize a slightly tighter /juː/ sequence, while US speakers often have a more prominent /j/ onset before the long /uː/. Some Australian speakers may reduce the vowel slightly toward /uː/ in rapid speech. The rhoticity doesn’t affect this word since /juː/ already integrates the glide. Listen to local pronunciations on Pronounce to spot tiny vowels shifts.
The challenge lies in the /juː/ sequence after /m/. Learners often concatenate /m/ and /j/ too tightly, creating /mjuz/ or /mjuːz/ with reduced glide. Additionally, final /z/ requires voicing; many learners instinctively voice it as /s/. Focus on keeping a clear /j/ onset and a stable long /uː/ before a voiced /z/. Practice by isolating the glide: say ‘mew’ then attach a voiced /z/.
No; mews is a monosyllable, so there’s no internal word stress to vary. The emphasis is intrinsic to the single syllable, and you should maintain a single, steady breath and a clean vowel. Ensure the final /z/ is voiced and audible. If you encounter difficulty in connected speech, practice with phrases like ‘the mews houses’ to keep the rhythm natural without altering the base pronunciation.
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Mews derives from the Old French word mes (meaning ‘house’ or ‘dwelling’) and from the French mews or mas meaning ‘barn’ or ‘stable.’ In Middle English, mew could refer to a place to keep birds, and by extension to stables and houses built around or behind a stable yard. The modern sense of a mews—typically a street or compound of small houses built around a central yard—emerged in 17th- to 19th-century Britain, especially in London, where many former stables converted into fashionable residences were called mews. The term evolved from the idea of a ‘mews’ as a service yard for feeding and sheltering animals to its urban residential meaning. The first known uses appear in property and street names from the late 16th century, with the stable-yard sense well-attested in the 1600s and the more refined residential sense gaining prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries as gentrification transformed urban backstreets into desirable housing areas.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Mews" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Mews"
-ews sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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