Pronunciation

How to pronounce “beginning

“beginning” is pronounced /bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/ (bi-GI-ning) in American English and /bɪɡɪnɪŋ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “in”.
The sound

Say “beginning” in 3 beats

Say it like this

beginning

/bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/

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

3 beats
  1. beg
  2. inɡɪstress
  3. ningnɪŋ
IPA (American)
/bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/
IPA (British)
/bɪɡɪnɪŋ/
Respelling
bi-GI-ning
Syllables
3 — beg-IN-ning
Stress
Stress the second syllable: beg-IN-ning. “in” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, verb, adjective
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/

British

/bɪɡɪnɪŋ/

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

Meaning

What “beginning” means

  1. noun

    the event consisting of the start of something

    the beginning of the war

  2. noun

    the time at which something is supposed to begin

    they got an early start

  3. noun

    the first part or section of something

    `It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story

Say it in a sentence

The story starts at the very beginning of the war.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 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

beginning”, answered

How do you pronounce “beginning”?

“beginning” is pronounced /bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/ (bi-GI-ning) in American English and /bɪɡɪnɪŋ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “in”. Build it as beg-IN-ning, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “beginning” have?

3: beg · in · ning. The beat lands on the second, “in”.

Is “beginning” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/ (bi-GI-ning); British English says /bɪɡɪnɪŋ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “beginning” mean?

As a noun: the event consisting of the start of something For example: “the beginning of the war” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “beginning”?

Stress the second syllable: beg-IN-ning. “in” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “beginning” 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.