How to pronounce “collaborative”
Say “collaborative” in 4 beats
collaborative
/kəˈlæbɹətɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kəˈlabəɹətɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- kəkə
- lælæstress
- bɹəbɹə
- tɪvtɪv
- IPA (American)
- /kəˈlæbɹətɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /kəˈlabəɹətɪv/
- Respelling
- kuh-LAB-ruh-tiv
- Syllables
- 4 — kə-LÆ-bɹə-tɪv
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: kə-LÆ-bɹə-tɪv. “læ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/kəˈlæbɹətɪv/
/kəˈlabəɹətɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “collaborative” goes wrong
- Often heard
“col-uh-BOR-a-tive”
the stress is on LAB, exactly as in collaborate
What “collaborative” means
- adjective
accomplished by collaboration
“collaborative research”
Say it in a sentence
“The project was collaborative from the very first meeting.”“collaborative”, answered
How do you pronounce “collaborative”?
“collaborative” is pronounced /kəˈlæbɹətɪv/ (kuh-LAB-ruh-tiv) in American English and /kəˈlabəɹətɪv/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “læ”. Build it as kə-LÆ-bɹə-tɪv, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “collaborative” have?
4: kə · læ · bɹə · tɪv. The beat lands on the second, “læ”. Read letter by letter it looks like 5 (col-uh-BOR-a-tive), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 4.
Is “collaborative” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /kəˈlæbɹətɪv/ (kuh-LAB-ruh-tiv); British English says /kəˈlabəɹətɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “collaborative” mean?
As an adjective: accomplished by collaboration For example: “collaborative research”
Where is the stress in “collaborative”?
Stress the second syllable: kə-LÆ-bɹə-tɪv. “læ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “collaborative” 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.