How to Read IPA: English Pronunciation Key

banana
US/bəˈnænə/buh-NAN-uh
UK/bəˈnɑːnə/buh-NAH-nuh
Our pronunciation guides write each sound two ways. The IPA line between slashes is exact. The spelling in italics is for reading aloud, and its capital letters mark the syllable you stress. This page explains every symbol you will meet.

Reading the marks

IPA writes one symbol for one sound, so a word can look shorter or longer than its spelling. Most of the extra marks tell you where the weight of the word falls.

Marks
Mark Meaning Example
ˈ The next syllable is stressed banana /bəˈnænə/
ˌ The next syllable has lighter stress pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
. A break between syllables water /ˈwɔ.tɚ/
ː The vowel before it is long food /fuːd/
( ) A sound many speakers leave out comfortable /ˈkʌm(p)f.tə.bəl/
n̩ l̩ A consonant that forms a syllable of its own, said like “uhn” or “uhl” little /ˈlɪ.tl̩/

Consonants you already know

These symbols sound just like the English letters: p, b, t, d, k, ɡ, f, v, s, z, h, m, n, l, w. The only surprise is ɡ, which is always the hard g of go and never the g of gem.

Consonants with new symbols

English spells these sounds with two letters or in several different ways, so IPA gives each one its own symbol. Watch out for j: it is the y of yes, never the j of jam.

Consonants with new symbols
Symbol Our spelling Examples
θ th thin, math
ð dh this dhis, mother MUDH-er
ʃ sh ship, nation NAY-shuhn
ʒ zh measure MEZH-er, vision VIZH-uhn
tʃ ch church, nature NAY-cher
dʒ j judge juj, giant JY-uhnt
ŋ ng sing, think thingk
j y yes, use yoos
ɹ r red, sorry SAR-ee

Short vowels

Short vowels are quick and never stretched. The upside-down e, ə, is the most common sound in English. It is the relaxed “uh” in unstressed syllables.

Short vowels
Symbol Our spelling Examples
æ a cat kat, trap
ɛ e bed, head hed
ɪ i sit, busy BIZ-ee
ɒ UK o lot, want wont
ʌ u cup kup, love luv
ʊ uu put puut, book buuk
ə uh about uh-BOWT, sofa SOH-fuh

Long vowels

British dictionaries mark long vowels with ː. American ones usually leave the mark out, so the same vowel appears in two forms below.

Long vowels
Symbol Our spelling Examples
iː UK ee see, tree
i US ee see, tree
uː UK oo food, blue bloo
u US oo food, blue bloo
ɑː UK ah far fah, start staht
ɑ US ah father FAH-dher, lot laht
ɔː UK aw law, talk tawk
ɔ US aw law, talk tawk
ɜː UK ur learn lurn, work wurk
ɝ US ur learn lurn, work wurk
ɚ US er letter LET-er, water WAW-ter

Vowel glides

A glide moves from one vowel into another inside a single syllable, as in day or boy. American English keeps the r after a vowel, so its glides before r are written with r or with ɚ.

Vowel glides
Symbol Our spelling Examples
eɪ ay day, face fays
aɪ eye my, price pryse
ɔɪ oy boy, choice choys
aʊ ow how, house hows
oʊ US oh go goh, home hohm
əʊ UK oh go goh, home hohm
ɪə UK eer near neer, here heer
ɪɹ or ɪɚ US eer near neer, here heer
ɛə UK air airport AIR-pawt, chair
ɛɹ or ɛɚ US air hair, chair
ɑɹ US ar car kar, start
ɔɹ or oɹ US or more mor, door dor

American and British

Where the two differ, our guides give both. Five differences cover most of what you will see. Americans say the r in far, and in British English it disappears unless a vowel follows. The vowel of lot sounds like ah in America and like a short rounded o in Britain. Words like after and bath take a long ah in southern England. The o of go starts from a different point, and the ending of letter keeps its r in America.

American and British
Word US UK
far /fɑɹ/ far /fɑː/ fah
lot /lɑt/ laht /lɒt/ lot
after /ˈæftəɹ/ AF-ter /ˈɑːftə/ AHF-tuh
go /ɡoʊ/ goh /ɡəʊ/ goh
letter /ˈlɛtɚ/ LET-er /ˈlɛtə/ LET-uh

Try it yourself

Read each IPA line aloud before you look at the spelling after it.
  • pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ pruh-nun-see-AY-shuhn
  • comfortable /ˈkʌm(p)f.tə.bəl/ KUMF-tuh-buhl
  • mischievous /ˈmɪs.tʃɪ.vəs/ MIS-chiv-uhs
  • Wednesday /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/ WENZ-day
  • February /ˈfɛb.ɹuˌɛɹi/ FEB-roo-air-ee

IPA transcriptions from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Audio recordings by volunteers on Wikimedia Commons, credited below.

Audio credits
Recordings were trimmed, levelled and in some rows joined with a short pause. Each keeps the license of its original file.
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