How to pronounce “background”
Say “background” in 2 beats
background
/ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /bakɡɹaʊnd/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- backbækstress
- groundɡɹaʊnd
- IPA (American)
- /ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/
- IPA (British)
- /bakɡɹaʊnd/
- Respelling
- BAK-grownd
- Syllables
- 2 — BACK-ground
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: BACK-ground. “back” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
/ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/
/bakɡɹaʊnd/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “background” means
- noun
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
“he is a lawyer with a sports background”
- noun
the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground
“he posed her against a background of rolling hills”
- noun
information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
“the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident”
Say it in a sentence
“His background in engineering helped enormously in that role.”“background”, answered
How do you pronounce “background”?
“background” is pronounced /ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/ (BAK-grownd) in American English and /bakɡɹaʊnd/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “back”. Build it as BACK-ground, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “background” have?
2: back · ground. The beat lands on the first, “back”.
Is “background” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/ (BAK-grownd); British English says /bakɡɹaʊnd/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “background” mean?
As a noun: a person's social heritage: previous experience or training For example: “he is a lawyer with a sports background” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “background”?
Stress the first syllable: BACK-ground. “back” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “background” 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.