Pronunciation

How to pronounce “establish

“establish” is pronounced /ɪˈstæblɪʃ/ (i-STA-blish) in American English and /ɪstablɪʃ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “tab”.
The sound

Say “establish” in 3 beats

Say it like this

establish

/ɪˈstæblɪʃ/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɪstablɪʃ/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. esɪ
  2. tabstæstress
  3. lishblɪʃ
IPA (American)
/ɪˈstæblɪʃ/
IPA (British)
/ɪstablɪʃ/
Respelling
i-STA-blish
Syllables
3 — es-TAB-lish
Stress
Stress the second syllable: es-TAB-lish. “tab” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɪˈstæblɪʃ/

British

/ɪstablɪʃ/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “establish” means

  1. verb

    set up or found

    She set up a literacy program

  2. verb

    set up or lay the groundwork for

    establish a new department

  3. verb

    establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment

    The experiment demonstrated the instability of the compound

Say it in a sentence

They hope to establish a proper library within two years.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

establish”, answered

How do you pronounce “establish”?

“establish” is pronounced /ɪˈstæblɪʃ/ (i-STA-blish) in American English and /ɪstablɪʃ/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “tab”. Build it as es-TAB-lish, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “establish” have?

3: es · tab · lish. The beat lands on the second, “tab”.

Is “establish” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɪˈstæblɪʃ/ (i-STA-blish); British English says /ɪstablɪʃ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “establish” mean?

As a verb: set up or found For example: “She set up a literacy program” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “establish”?

Stress the second syllable: es-TAB-lish. “tab” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “establish” 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.