How to pronounce “attribute”
“attribute” is said two ways
/ˈætɹəˌbjut/
AT-rib-yoot
A quality or property. Beat on AT.
/əˈtɹɪbjut/
uh-TRIB-yoot
To credit something to someone. Beat on TRIB.
Listen for the beat, not the letters
One syllable gets longer, louder and a step higher, and the other one collapses towards a schwa. Say the whole sentence rather than the word on its own and let the grammar pull the beat where it belongs.Both forms live in one sentence here: “Patience is the attribute most people attribute to good teachers.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “attribute” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the noun and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “attribute” in 3 beats
attribute
/ˈætɹəˌbjut/
Everything in this card describes the noun form. As a verb it is /əˈtɹɪbjut/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈatɹɪbjuːt/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ææstress
- tɹətɹə
- bjutbjut
- IPA (American)
- /ˈætɹəˌbjut/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈatɹɪbjuːt/
- Respelling
- AT-rib-yoot (noun) · uh-TRIB-yoot (verb)
- Syllables
- 3 — Æ-tɹə-bjut
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: Æ-tɹə-bjut. “æ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
This is the noun form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/ˈætɹəˌbjut/
/ˈatɹɪbjuːt/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “attribute” goes wrong
- Often heard
“AT-rib-yoot the quote to her”
crediting something is uh-TRIB-yoot; AT-rib-yoot is the quality
What “attribute” means
- noun
a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished
“self-confidence is not an endearing property”
- noun
an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity
- verb
attribute or credit to
“We attributed this quotation to Shakespeare”
Say it in a sentence
“Patience is the attribute most people attribute to good teachers.”“attribute”, answered
How do you pronounce “attribute”?
“attribute” has two pronunciations: /ˈætɹəˌbjut/ as a noun and /əˈtɹɪbjut/ as a verb — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the beat does, and the vowels reshape around wherever it lands. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the noun form. Build it as Æ-tɹə-bjut, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “attribute” have?
3: æ · tɹə · bjut. The beat lands on the first, “æ”.
Which pronunciation of “attribute” is correct?
Both are. /ˈætɹəˌbjut/ (AT-rib-yoot) as a noun; /əˈtɹɪbjut/ (uh-TRIB-yoot) as a verb. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does. Move the beat and the word changes its job mid-sentence, which is why both are worth drilling. Both appear here: “Patience is the attribute most people attribute to good teachers.”
Is “attribute” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈætɹəˌbjut/ (AT-rib-yoot); British English says /ˈatɹɪbjuːt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “attribute” mean?
As a noun: a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished For example: “self-confidence is not an endearing property” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “attribute”?
Stress the first syllable: Æ-tɹə-bjut. “æ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “attribute” 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.