How to pronounce “breakdown”
Say “breakdown” in 2 beats
breakdown
/ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /bɹeɪkdaʊn/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- breakbɹeɪkstress
- downdaʊn
- IPA (American)
- /ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/
- IPA (British)
- /bɹeɪkdaʊn/
- Respelling
- BRAYK-down
- Syllables
- 2 — BREAK-down
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: BREAK-down. “break” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/
/bɹeɪkdaʊn/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “breakdown” means
- noun
the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
“the social dislocations resulting from government policies”
- noun
a mental or physical breakdown
- noun
a cessation of normal operation
“there was a power breakdown”
Say it in a sentence
“The breakdown of costs is on the second page.”“breakdown”, answered
How do you pronounce “breakdown”?
“breakdown” is pronounced /ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/ (BRAYK-down) in American English and /bɹeɪkdaʊn/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “break”. Build it as BREAK-down, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “breakdown” have?
2: break · down. The beat lands on the first, “break”.
Is “breakdown” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/ (BRAYK-down); British English says /bɹeɪkdaʊn/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “breakdown” mean?
As a noun: the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue For example: “the social dislocations resulting from government policies” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “breakdown”?
Stress the first syllable: BREAK-down. “break” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “breakdown” 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.