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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “cooperate”

“cooperate” is pronounced /koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/ (koh-AH-puh-ayt) in American English and /kəʊɒpəɹeɪt/ in British English, and /ˈkwɑpɚˌeɪt/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “er”.
The sound

Say “cooperate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

cooperate

/koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/

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

4 beats
  1. coopkoʊ
  2. erɑstress
  3. atpɚ
  4. eeɪt
IPA (American)
/koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/kəʊɒpəɹeɪt/
Also accepted
/ˈkwɑpɚˌeɪt/
Respelling
koh-AH-puh-ayt
Syllables
4 — coop-ER-at-e
Stress
Stress the second syllable: coop-ER-at-e. “er” 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

/koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/

British

/kəʊɒpəɹeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “cooperate” means

  1. verb

    work together on a common enterprise of project

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

Say it in a sentence

“The two councils agreed to cooperate on the new footpath.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
kkoʊlong oɑahppɚschwaeɪlong att

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

Questions

“cooperate”, answered

How do you pronounce “cooperate”?

“cooperate” is pronounced /koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/ (koh-AH-puh-ayt) in American English and /kəʊɒpəɹeɪt/ in British English, and /ˈkwɑpɚˌeɪt/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “er”. Build it as coop-ER-at-e, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “cooperate” have?

4: coop · er · at · e. The beat lands on the second, “er”.

Is “cooperate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /koʊˈɑpɚˌeɪt/ (koh-AH-puh-ayt); British English says /kəʊɒpəɹeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “cooperate” 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”

Where is the stress in “cooperate”?

Stress the second syllable: coop-ER-at-e. “er” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “cooperate” and see every sound

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