How to pronounce “column”
Say “column” in 2 beats
column
/ˈkɑləm/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈkɒləm/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- colkɑstress
- umnləm
- IPA (American)
- /ˈkɑləm/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈkɒləm/
- Respelling
- KOL-uhm
- Syllables
- 2 — COL-umn
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: COL-umn. “col” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈkɑləm/
/ˈkɒləm/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “column” goes wrong
- Often heard
“KOL-um-n”
the final n is silent: KOL-uhm
What “column” means
- noun
a line of units following one after another
- noun
a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands
- noun
a vertical array of numbers or other information
“he added a column of numbers”
Say it in a sentence
“She writes a weekly column about food and family cooking.”“column”, answered
How do you pronounce “column”?
“column” is pronounced /ˈkɑləm/ (KOL-uhm) in American English and /ˈkɒləm/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “col”. Build it as COL-umn, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “column” have?
2: col · umn. The beat lands on the first, “col”. Read letter by letter it looks like 3 (KOL-um-n), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 2.
Is “column” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈkɑləm/ (KOL-uhm); British English says /ˈkɒləm/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “column” mean?
As a noun: a line of units following one after another For example: “She writes a weekly column about food and family cooking.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “column”?
Stress the first syllable: COL-umn. “col” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “column” 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.