sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “challenge”

“challenge” is pronounced /ˈtʃæləndʒ/ (CHA-luhnj) in American English and /tʃalɪndʒ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “tʃæ”.
The sound

Say “challenge” in 2 beats

Say it like this

challenge

/ˈtʃæləndʒ/

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

2 beats
  1. tʃætʃæstress
  2. ləndʒləndʒ
IPA (American)
/ˈtʃæləndʒ/
IPA (British)
/tʃalɪndʒ/
Respelling
CHA-luhnj
Syllables
2 — TƩÆ-ləndʒ
Stress
Stress the first syllable: TƩÆ-ləndʒ. “tʃæ” 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

/ˈtʃæləndʒ/

British

/tʃalɪndʒ/

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

Meaning

What “challenge” means

  1. noun

    a demanding or stimulating situation

    “they reacted irrationally to the challenge of Russian power”

  2. noun

    a call to engage in a contest or fight

  3. noun

    questioning a statement and demanding an explanation

    “his challenge of the assumption that Japan is still our enemy”

Say it in a sentence

“The biggest challenge was finding anyone who spoke the dialect.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
tʃchæshort alləschwanndʒj

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

Questions

“challenge”, answered

How do you pronounce “challenge”?

“challenge” is pronounced /ˈtʃæləndʒ/ (CHA-luhnj) in American English and /tʃalɪndʒ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “tʃæ”. Build it as TƩÆ-ləndʒ, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “challenge” have?

2: tʃæ · ləndʒ. The beat lands on the first, “tʃæ”.

Is “challenge” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈtʃæləndʒ/ (CHA-luhnj); British English says /tʃalɪndʒ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “challenge” mean?

As a noun: a demanding or stimulating situation For example: “they reacted irrationally to the challenge of Russian power” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “challenge”?

Stress the first syllable: TƩÆ-ləndʒ. “tʃæ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “challenge” 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