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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “believe”

“believe” is pronounced /bɪˈliv/ (bi-LEEV) in American English and /bɪliːv/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “liv”.
The sound

Say “believe” in 2 beats

Say it like this

believe

/bɪˈliv/

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

2 beats
  1. bɪbɪ
  2. livlivstress
IPA (American)
/bɪˈliv/
IPA (British)
/bɪliːv/
Respelling
bi-LEEV
Syllables
2 — bɪ-LIV
Stress
Stress the second syllable: bɪ-LIV. “liv” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/bɪˈliv/

British

/bɪliːv/

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

Meaning

What “believe” means

  1. verb

    accept as true; take to be true

    “I believed his report”

  2. verb

    judge or regard; look upon; judge

    “I think he is very smart”

  3. verb

    be confident about something

    “I believe that he will come back from the war”

Say it in a sentence

“It is hard to believe how quickly the summer passed.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
bbɪshort illilong evv

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

Questions

“believe”, answered

How do you pronounce “believe”?

“believe” is pronounced /bɪˈliv/ (bi-LEEV) in American English and /bɪliːv/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “liv”. Build it as bɪ-LIV, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “believe” have?

2: bɪ · liv. The beat lands on the second, “liv”.

Is “believe” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /bɪˈliv/ (bi-LEEV); British English says /bɪliːv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “believe” mean?

As a verb: accept as true; take to be true For example: “I believed his report” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “believe”?

Stress the second syllable: bɪ-LIV. “liv” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “believe” and see every sound

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