How to pronounce “deliberate”
“deliberate” is said two ways
/dɪˈlɪbɚət/
dih-LIB-ur-uht
Meaning intentional. Ends in a reduced -uht.
/dɪˈlɪbɚˌeɪt/
dih-LIB-uh-rayt
To think something over, as a jury does. Ends in a full -rayt.
Listen for the vowel, not the letters
The spelling never moves; the sounds inside it do. Practise the two back to back, so your mouth stops defaulting to whichever one you learnt first.Both forms live in one sentence here: “The jury will deliberate over whether the act was deliberate.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “deliberate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the adjective and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “deliberate” in 4 beats
deliberate
/dɪˈlɪbɚət/
Everything in this card describes the adjective form. As a verb it is /dɪˈlɪbɚˌeɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /dɪˈlɪbəɹət/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- dɪdɪ
- lɪlɪstress
- bɚbɚ
- ətət
- IPA (American)
- /dɪˈlɪbɚət/
- IPA (British)
- /dɪˈlɪbəɹət/
- Respelling
- dih-LIB-ur-uht (adjective) · dih-LIB-uh-rayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 4 — dɪ-LꞮ-bɚ-ət
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: dɪ-LꞮ-bɚ-ət. “lɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
This is the adjective form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/dɪˈlɪbɚət/
/dɪˈlɪbəɹət/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “deliberate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“a dih-LIB-uh-rayt insult”
the adjective ends in -uht; only the verb ends in -rayt
What “deliberate” means
- verb
think about carefully; weigh
“They considered the possibility of a strike”
- verb
discuss the pros and cons of an issue
- adjective
carefully thought out in advance
“a calculated insult”
Say it in a sentence
“The jury will deliberate over whether the act was deliberate.”“deliberate”, answered
How do you pronounce “deliberate”?
“deliberate” has two pronunciations: /dɪˈlɪbɚət/ as an adjective and /dɪˈlɪbɚˌeɪt/ as a verb — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the sounds inside it do, and nothing on the page tells you which one a sentence wants. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the adjective form. Build it as dɪ-LꞮ-bɚ-ət, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “deliberate” have?
4: dɪ · lɪ · bɚ · ət. The beat lands on the second, “lɪ”.
Which pronunciation of “deliberate” is correct?
Both are. /dɪˈlɪbɚət/ (dih-LIB-ur-uht) as an adjective; /dɪˈlɪbɚˌeɪt/ (dih-LIB-uh-rayt) as a verb. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does, and the two are as different as any two words. Both appear here: “The jury will deliberate over whether the act was deliberate.”
Is “deliberate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /dɪˈlɪbɚət/ (dih-LIB-ur-uht); British English says /dɪˈlɪbəɹət/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “deliberate” mean?
As a verb: think about carefully; weigh For example: “They considered the possibility of a strike” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “deliberate”?
Stress the second syllable: dɪ-LꞮ-bɚ-ət. “lɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “deliberate” 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.