English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce any English word, with audio and IPA.
Thousands of English words, each with a plain-English respelling, the IPA for American and British English, the syllable breakdown with the stress marked, audio you can play, a one-line definition, example sentences, and the mispronunciations to avoid. Search for a word or browse by letter.
9 words and growing every day.
Browse by first letter
- Words Starting with A (1 word)
- Words Starting with B (1 word)
- Words Starting with C (1 word)
- Words Starting with O (1 word)
- Words Starting with R (2 words)
- Words Starting with S (1 word)
- Words Starting with T (1 word)
- Words Starting with W (1 word)
Frequently asked questions about English pronunciation
- How do I read the IPA on these pages?
- Each symbol stands for exactly one sound, which is why dictionaries use it. The mark ˈ goes in front of the syllable that carries the main stress, and ˌ marks a weaker secondary stress. A colon-like ː means the vowel is long, as in British /siː/ for see. If the symbols are new to you, read the respelling next to them first: pruh-nun-see-AY-shun says the same thing in ordinary letters, with the stressed syllable in capitals.
- Why do you show both American and British pronunciations?
- Because the two differ in regular ways, and learners usually need one or the other. American English pronounces the r in car and butter; most British accents do not. British English uses a long ah in bath and can't where American uses the short a of cat. Where the two agree, the page shows one form; where they differ, both, so you can pick the model you are learning.
- What is the most important thing to get right in English pronunciation?
- Word stress. English listeners locate a word by which syllable is loud and long, so PHO-to-graph and pho-TO-graphy are heard as different words even when every vowel is slightly off. Getting the stressed syllable right, and reducing the others to a quick schwa, does more for being understood than perfecting any single consonant.
- Where does the audio come from?
- The play buttons use your device's built-in English voices, one American and one British, so they work offline and on every page without a download. They are a guide to stress and rhythm rather than a substitute for hearing native speakers, which is what the Parrot app is built around.
- Can I learn English on Parrot today?
- Not yet. Parrot teaches Spanish today, and more languages are on the roadmap. This pronunciation guide is free to use right now, and you can join the waitlist to hear the moment the English course launches.