Pronunciation

How to pronounce “except

“except” is pronounced /ɪkˈsɛpt/ (ik-SEPT) — 2 syllables, stressed on “cept”.
The sound

Say “except” in 2 beats

Say it like this

except

/ɪkˈsɛpt/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. exɪk
  2. ceptsɛptstress
IPA (American)
/ɪkˈsɛpt/
IPA (British)
/ɪkˈsɛpt/
Respelling
ik-SEPT
Syllables
2 — ex-CEPT
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ex-CEPT. “cept” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Watch out

Where “except” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    ak-SEPT

    except means apart from; accept means to take

Meaning

What “except” means

  1. verb

    take exception to

    he demurred at my suggestion to work on Saturday

  2. verb

    prevent from being included or considered or accepted

    The bad results were excluded from the report

Say it in a sentence

Everyone came except the two who were away that week.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 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

except”, answered

How do you pronounce “except”?

“except” is pronounced /ɪkˈsɛpt/ (ik-SEPT) — 2 syllables, stressed on “cept”. Build it as ex-CEPT, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “except” have?

2: ex · cept. The beat lands on the second, “cept”.

What does “except” mean?

As a verb: take exception to For example: “he demurred at my suggestion to work on Saturday” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “except”?

Stress the second syllable: ex-CEPT. “cept” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “except” 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.