How to pronounce “comprehension”
Say “comprehension” in 4 beats
comprehension
/ˌkɑmpɹiˈhɛnʃən/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kɒmpɹɪhɛnʃən/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- compkɑm
- rehpɹi
- enhɛnstress
- sionʃən
- IPA (American)
- /ˌkɑmpɹiˈhɛnʃən/
- IPA (British)
- /kɒmpɹɪhɛnʃən/
- Respelling
- kahm-pree-HEN-shuhn
- Syllables
- 4 — comp-reh-EN-sion
- Stress
- Stress the third syllable: comp-reh-EN-sion. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall 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
/ˌkɑmpɹiˈhɛnʃən/
/kɒmpɹɪhɛnʃən/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “comprehension” means
- noun
an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result)
“how you can do that is beyond my comprehension”
- noun
the relation of comprising something
“he admired the inclusion of so many ideas in such a short work”
Say it in a sentence
“Reading comprehension improves faster than speaking for most learners.”“comprehension”, answered
How do you pronounce “comprehension”?
“comprehension” is pronounced /ˌkɑmpɹiˈhɛnʃən/ (kahm-pree-HEN-shuhn) in American English and /kɒmpɹɪhɛnʃən/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “en”. Build it as comp-reh-EN-sion, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “comprehension” have?
4: comp · reh · en · sion. The beat lands on the third, “en”.
Is “comprehension” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌkɑmpɹiˈhɛnʃən/ (kahm-pree-HEN-shuhn); British English says /kɒmpɹɪhɛnʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “comprehension” mean?
As a noun: an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result) For example: “how you can do that is beyond my comprehension” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “comprehension”?
Stress the third syllable: comp-reh-EN-sion. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “comprehension” 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.