Pronunciation

How to pronounce “circulate

“circulate” is pronounced /ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/ (SUR-kyuh-layt) in American English and /sɜːkjʊleɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “sɝ”.
The sound

Say “circulate” in 3 beats

Say it like this

circulate

/ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/

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

3 beats
  1. stress
  2. kjəkjə
  3. leɪtleɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/
IPA (British)
/sɜːkjʊleɪt/
Respelling
SUR-kyuh-layt
Syllables
3 — Sɝ-kjə-leɪt
Stress
Stress the first syllable: Sɝ-kjə-leɪt. “sɝ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/

British

/sɜːkjʊleɪt/

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

Meaning

What “circulate” means

  1. verb

    become widely known and passed on

    the rumor spread

  2. verb

    cause to become widely known

    spread information

  3. verb

    cause be distributed

    This letter is being circulated among the faculty

Say it in a sentence

Rumours circulate quickly in a village of four hundred people.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 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

circulate”, answered

How do you pronounce “circulate”?

“circulate” is pronounced /ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/ (SUR-kyuh-layt) in American English and /sɜːkjʊleɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “sɝ”. Build it as Sɝ-kjə-leɪt, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “circulate” have?

3: sɝ · kjə · leɪt. The beat lands on the first, “sɝ”.

Is “circulate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈsɝkjəˌleɪt/ (SUR-kyuh-layt); British English says /sɜːkjʊleɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “circulate” mean?

As a verb: become widely known and passed on For example: “the rumor spread” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “circulate”?

Stress the first syllable: Sɝ-kjə-leɪt. “sɝ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “circulate” 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.