But only in English. In the original German, all three e’s are actually the same.
It’s the same in German: /mɛʁˈt͡seːdəs/
Despite what other commentators say who are evil and eager to spread lies about the German language
not true in German, there all Es sound exactly the same
The first E in Mercedes sounds slightly different from the other two in German, mostly because the rhotic sound [r] modifies the tongue placement for the preceding E, forcing you to say it as either an open-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ], or a mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽]. The [r] prevents the vowel from being a Close-mid front unrounded vowel [e] like the 2nd and 3rd occurrences of E.
Or more simply, the first e sounds more like “bed” while the second and third sound more like “may”, assuming you’re reading this with a standard American dialect.
When I, as a German speaker, pronounce Mercedes, every e is slightly different.
Wait until he notices the C’s in “Pacific Ocean”.
I never did understand how an ocean can contain multiple seas.
