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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “collaborate”

“collaborate” is pronounced /kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/ (kuh-LA-buh-ayt) in American English and /kəlabəɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “læ”.
The sound

Say “collaborate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

collaborate

/kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/

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

4 beats
  1. kəkə
  2. lælæstress
  3. bɚbɚ
  4. eɪteɪt
IPA (American)
/kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/kəlabəɹeɪt/
Respelling
kuh-LA-buh-ayt
Syllables
4 — kə-LÆ-bɚ-eɪt
Stress
Stress the second syllable: kə-LÆ-bɚ-eɪt. “læ” 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

/kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/

British

/kəlabəɹeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “collaborate” means

  1. verb

    work together on a common enterprise of project

    “The soprano and the pianist did not get together very well”

  2. verb

    cooperate as a traitor

    “he collaborated with the Nazis when they occupied Paris”

Say it in a sentence

“The two departments collaborate on one project each year.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
kkəschwa×2llæshort abbeɪlong att

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

Questions

“collaborate”, answered

How do you pronounce “collaborate”?

“collaborate” is pronounced /kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/ (kuh-LA-buh-ayt) in American English and /kəlabəɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “læ”. Build it as kə-LÆ-bɚ-eɪt, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “collaborate” have?

4: kə · læ · bɚ · eɪt. The beat lands on the second, “læ”.

Is “collaborate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /kəˈlæbɚˌeɪt/ (kuh-LA-buh-ayt); British English says /kəlabəɹeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “collaborate” mean?

As a verb: work together on a common enterprise of project For example: “The soprano and the pianist did not get together very well” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “collaborate”?

Stress the second syllable: kə-LÆ-bɚ-eɪt. “læ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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