/ɹiˈmuvz/
Say it backRemoves is a third-person singular present-tense verb meaning to take something away or out. It can also function as the plural noun form in rare contexts, but is most commonly used as a verb (e.g., she removes stains). The word blends the base verb remove with the third-person -s suffix, producing /rɪˈmuːvz/ in most dialects. Its pronunciation emphasizes the second syllable with a long
- Commonly, non-native speakers shorten the vowel in the second syllable or drop voicing on the final /z/. To fix, consciously maintain /uː/ length in the MOOV segment and keep voicing through /z/. - Another error is misplacing stress as re-MOO-ves; ensure the nucleus is /ˈmuː/ and the initial /rɪ/ leads into it smoothly. - Finally, some speakers mispronounce the initial /r/ as a trill or an alveolar approximant; aim for a light, quick /r/ with the tongue tip behind the teeth without tension. Practice slow-to-fast drills and record for self-evaluation.
"She removes her coat as she enters the room."
"The committee removes outdated items from the list."
"He removes the lid to reveal the prize."
Removes is pronounced with stress on the second syllable: /rɪˈmuːvz/. Start with a short /r/, then a quick /ɪ/ as in “bit,” followed by the primary stressed syllable /ˈmuː/ with a long /uː/ as in “mood.” End with /vz/, a voiced labiodental fricative + z, ensuring the /v/ is audible just before the /z/. Mouth: slight front-mid tongue position for /ɪ/, higher back for /uː/. IPA guidance: rɪˈmuːvz. Audio reference: you can compare with Cambridge or Oxford dictionary audio for emphasis and final sibilant.
Two frequent errors: (1) Slurring the final /z/ and turning it into a voiceless /s/. Correction: keep voicing for /z/ and avoid devoicing at the end. (2) Misplacing stress as re-MOO-ves or re-mooVEs; correct the secondary syllable, MOOV, as the nucleus. Focus on a clear /ˈmuː/ and ensure the /r/ is lightly tapped, not a heavy American r in rapid speech. Practice with slow repeating: rɪ-ˈmuːvz, then speed up.
In US English, /r/ is rhotic and the /ɹ/ is pronounced with a strong, bunched or retroflex articulation before /ɪ/; the /ɪ/ is short, and /ˈmuːvz/ contains a long /uː/. UK English tends toward a less rhotic or more centralized rhoticity depending on speaker; /r/ may be less pronounced before a vowel-consonant boundary, and the /uː/ often remains full but can be slightly shorter. Australian English typically has a clear /ɹ/ but less intense rhoticity than US; the /ˈmuːvz/ retains a long /uː/ with slightly broader vowel quality. Ensure final /z/ remains voiced across accents.
The difficulty centers on the cluster rɪ- with a stressed /ˈmuː/ and the final voiced /vz/ sequence. People often mis-hit the long /uː/ and shorten it to /u/ or mispronounce the /z/ as /s/. Additionally, keeping voicing on the final consonant in rapid speech can blur to /s/. Focused practice on the sequence r-ɪ-ˈmuː-vz, slow then fast, and ensure your lips and teeth cooperate for the /v/ before /z/.
A distinctive feature is the final -es spelling which yields the /vz/ ending instead of a full /z/ or /s/; this requires sustained voicing through the /z/ and a slight bite on the lower lip for /v/ before the /z/. Also, the secondary syllable carries the main stress, making users emphasize /ˈmuː/ more than the first syllable. This combination of a long vowel plus a voiced fricative sequence is the key search-query driver.
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- US: rhotic, strong /ɹ/; keep the /r/ tight but not overly rolled, and the /ˈmuː/ is a heavy stressed syllable. - UK: less pronounced /r/, vowel quality can be slightly more centralized; keep /uː/ long. - AU: similar to US but with more open jaw and broader vowel quality; maintain /ˈmuː/ with full lip rounding. All variants require voicing on /z/. IPA references: US rɪˈmuːvz, UK rɪˈmuːvz, AU rɪˈmuːvz.
Removes derives from the verb remove, which traces to Old French esmeuvier or remove, from Latin removere (to move back, to take away), composed of re- (back) and movere (to move). In Early Modern English, remove began to take the -s suffix in third-person singular forms, giving removes. The etymological shift reflects serial verb formation in English where -s marks third-person singular present. The sense of taking away or pulling out is consistent with the Proto-Italic root *movēre and its Latin descendants, where mobility and removal of an object are central semantic threads. Over time, remove maintained a direct, action-oriented nuance—short, punchy, and transitive—while “removes” as a present-tense form becomes a common, everyday lexical item across registers from technical to colloquial. First known use in English appears by the 15th century, with parallel use in legal and inventory contexts as items were physically dislodged or excised, evolving into modern usage in everyday speech and writing. Contemporary usage preserves the core sense of displacement or extraction, often in maintenance, cleaning, and organizational contexts, while retaining its straightforward syllable structure that emphasizes the second syllable in stress patterns. The shared root with other
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Words that rhyme with "removes"
-ves sounds
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