How to pronounce “distinguish”
Say “distinguish” in 3 beats
distinguish
/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /dɪstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- disdɪ
- tinstɪŋstress
- guishɡwɪʃ
- IPA (American)
- /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/
- IPA (British)
- /dɪstɪŋɡwɪʃ/
- Respelling
- di-STING-gwish
- Syllables
- 3 — dis-TIN-guish
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: dis-TIN-guish. “tin” 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
American and British are not the same here
/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/
/dɪstɪŋɡwɪʃ/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “distinguish” means
- verb
mark as different
“We distinguish several kinds of maple”
- verb
detect with the senses
“The fleeing convicts were picked out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards”
- verb
be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense
“His modesty distinguishes him from his peers”
Say it in a sentence
“It is hard to distinguish the twins on the telephone.”“distinguish”, answered
How do you pronounce “distinguish”?
“distinguish” is pronounced /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ (di-STING-gwish) in American English and /dɪstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “tin”. Build it as dis-TIN-guish, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “distinguish” have?
3: dis · tin · guish. The beat lands on the second, “tin”.
Is “distinguish” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ (di-STING-gwish); British English says /dɪstɪŋɡwɪʃ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “distinguish” mean?
As a verb: mark as different For example: “We distinguish several kinds of maple” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “distinguish”?
Stress the second syllable: dis-TIN-guish. “tin” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “distinguish” 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.