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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “centre”

“centre” is pronounced /ˈsɛntɚ/ (SEN-tuh) in American English and /sɛntə/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cent”.
The sound

Say “centre” in 2 beats

Say it like this

centre

/ˈsɛntɚ/

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

2 beats
  1. centsɛnstress
  2. retɚ
IPA (American)
/ˈsɛntɚ/
IPA (British)
/sɛntə/
Respelling
SEN-tuh
Syllables
2 — CENT-re
Stress
Stress the first syllable: CENT-re. “cent” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈsɛntɚ/

British

/sɛntə/

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

Meaning

What “centre” means

  1. noun

    a low-lying region in central France

  2. noun

    an area that is approximately central within some larger region

    “it is in the center of town”

  3. noun

    a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure

Say it in a sentence

“The new shopping centre attracted visitors from nearby towns.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
ssɛshort ennttɚschwa

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

Questions

“centre”, answered

How do you pronounce “centre”?

“centre” is pronounced /ˈsɛntɚ/ (SEN-tuh) in American English and /sɛntə/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cent”. Build it as CENT-re, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “centre” have?

2: cent · re. The beat lands on the first, “cent”.

Is “centre” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈsɛntɚ/ (SEN-tuh); British English says /sɛntə/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “centre” mean?

As a noun: a low-lying region in central France For example: “The new shopping centre attracted visitors from nearby towns.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “centre”?

Stress the first syllable: CENT-re. “cent” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “centre” 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.

Practise this word freeMore words with C