How to pronounce “emphasize”
Say “emphasize” in 3 beats
emphasize
/ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɛmfɐsaɪz/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɛmɛmstress
- fəfə
- saɪzsaɪz
- IPA (American)
- /ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/
- IPA (British)
- /ɛmfɐsaɪz/
- Respelling
- EM-fuh-syz
- Syllables
- 3 — ƐM-fə-saɪz
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: ƐM-fə-saɪz. “ɛm” 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
/ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/
/ɛmfɐsaɪz/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “emphasize” means
- verb
to stress, single out as important
“Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet”
- verb
give extra weight to (a communication)
“Her gesture emphasized her words”
Say it in a sentence
“I want to emphasize that nobody is being blamed here.”“emphasize”, answered
How do you pronounce “emphasize”?
“emphasize” is pronounced /ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/ (EM-fuh-syz) in American English and /ɛmfɐsaɪz/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ɛm”. Build it as ƐM-fə-saɪz, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “emphasize” have?
3: ɛm · fə · saɪz. The beat lands on the first, “ɛm”.
Is “emphasize” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/ (EM-fuh-syz); British English says /ɛmfɐsaɪz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “emphasize” mean?
As a verb: to stress, single out as important For example: “Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “emphasize”?
Stress the first syllable: ƐM-fə-saɪz. “ɛm” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “emphasize” 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.