How to pronounce “documentary”
Say “documentary” in 5 beats
documentary
/ˌdɑkjəˈmɛntɚi/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /dɒkjuːmɛntəɹi/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- docdɑ
- umkjə
- enmɛnstress
- tartɚ
- yi
- IPA (American)
- /ˌdɑkjəˈmɛntɚi/
- IPA (British)
- /dɒkjuːmɛntəɹi/
- Also accepted
- /ˌdɑkjəˈmɛnɚi/
- Also accepted
- /ˌdɑkjuˈmɛntɚi/
- Also accepted
- /ˌdɑkjuˈmɛnɚi/
- Respelling
- dah-kyuh-MEN-tuh-ee
- Syllables
- 5 — doc-um-EN-tar-y
- Stress
- Stress the third syllable: doc-um-EN-tar-y. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˌdɑkjəˈmɛntɚi/
/dɒkjuːmɛntəɹi/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “documentary” means
- noun
a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event
- adjective
relating to or consisting of or derived from documents
- adjective
emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation
“objective art”
Say it in a sentence
“The documentary followed three families over a full year.”“documentary”, answered
How do you pronounce “documentary”?
“documentary” is pronounced /ˌdɑkjəˈmɛntɚi/ (dah-kyuh-MEN-tuh-ee) in American English and /dɒkjuːmɛntəɹi/ in British English, and /ˌdɑkjəˈmɛnɚi/ and /ˌdɑkjuˈmɛntɚi/ and /ˌdɑkjuˈmɛnɚi/ are also accepted — 5 syllables, stressed on “en”. Build it as doc-um-EN-tar-y, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “documentary” have?
5: doc · um · en · tar · y. The beat lands on the third, “en”.
Is “documentary” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌdɑkjəˈmɛntɚi/ (dah-kyuh-MEN-tuh-ee); British English says /dɒkjuːmɛntəɹi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “documentary” mean?
As a noun: a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event For example: “The documentary followed three families over a full year.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “documentary”?
Stress the third syllable: doc-um-EN-tar-y. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “documentary” 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.