How to pronounce “encounter”
Say “encounter” in 3 beats
encounter
/ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɛŋkaʊntə/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- enɪn
- counkaʊnstress
- tertɚ
- IPA (American)
- /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/
- IPA (British)
- /ɛŋkaʊntə/
- Also accepted
- /ɪnˈkaʊnɚ/
- Respelling
- in-KOWN-tuh
- Syllables
- 3 — en-COUN-ter
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: en-COUN-ter. “coun” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/
/ɛŋkaʊntə/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “encounter” means
- noun
a minor short-term fight
- noun
a casual or unexpected convergence
“he still remembers their meeting in Paris”
- noun
a casual meeting with a person or thing
Say it in a sentence
“Their brief encounter at the gate turned into a shouting match.”“encounter”, answered
How do you pronounce “encounter”?
“encounter” is pronounced /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/ (in-KOWN-tuh) in American English and /ɛŋkaʊntə/ in British English, and /ɪnˈkaʊnɚ/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “coun”. Build it as en-COUN-ter, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “encounter” have?
3: en · coun · ter. The beat lands on the second, “coun”.
Is “encounter” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/ (in-KOWN-tuh); British English says /ɛŋkaʊntə/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “encounter” mean?
As a noun: a minor short-term fight For example: “Their brief encounter at the gate turned into a shouting match.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “encounter”?
Stress the second syllable: en-COUN-ter. “coun” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “encounter” 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.