Pronunciation

How to pronounce “acknowledge

“acknowledge” is pronounced /ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/ (ak-NAH-lij) in American English and /ɐknɒlɪdʒ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “nɑ”.
The sound

Say “acknowledge” in 3 beats

Say it like this

acknowledge

/ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɐknɒlɪdʒ/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. ækæk
  2. stress
  3. lɪdʒlɪdʒ
IPA (American)
/ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/
IPA (British)
/ɐknɒlɪdʒ/
Respelling
ak-NAH-lij
Syllables
3 — æk-NⱭ-lɪdʒ
Stress
Stress the second syllable: æk-NⱭ-lɪdʒ. “nɑ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/

British

/ɐknɒlɪdʒ/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “acknowledge” means

  1. verb

    declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of

    He admitted his errors

  2. verb

    report the receipt of

    The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper

  3. verb

    express recognition of the presence or existence of, or acquaintance with

    He never acknowledges his colleagues when they run into him in the hallway

Say it in a sentence

He would not acknowledge that the mistake had been his own.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

acknowledge”, answered

How do you pronounce “acknowledge”?

“acknowledge” is pronounced /ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/ (ak-NAH-lij) in American English and /ɐknɒlɪdʒ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “nɑ”. Build it as æk-NⱭ-lɪdʒ, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “acknowledge” have?

3: æk · nɑ · lɪdʒ. The beat lands on the second, “nɑ”.

Is “acknowledge” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/ (ak-NAH-lij); British English says /ɐknɒlɪdʒ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “acknowledge” mean?

As a verb: declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of For example: “He admitted his errors” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “acknowledge”?

Stress the second syllable: æk-NⱭ-lɪdʒ. “nɑ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “acknowledge” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.