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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “happy”

“happy” is pronounced /ˈhæpi/ (HA-pee) in American English and /hapi/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “hap”.
The sound

Say “happy” in 2 beats

Say it like this

happy

/ˈhæpi/

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

2 beats
  1. haphæstress
  2. pypi
IPA (American)
/ˈhæpi/
IPA (British)
/hapi/
Respelling
HA-pee
Syllables
2 — HAP-py
Stress
Stress the first syllable: HAP-py. “hap” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈhæpi/

British

/hapi/

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

Meaning

What “happy” means

  1. adjective

    enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure

    “a happy smile”

  2. adjective

    marked by good fortune

    “a felicitous life”

  3. adjective

    eagerly disposed to act or to be of service

    “glad to help”

Say it in a sentence

“The children looked happy after the long day at the beach.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 sounds, in the order you say them
hhæshort appilong e

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

Questions

“happy”, answered

How do you pronounce “happy”?

“happy” is pronounced /ˈhæpi/ (HA-pee) in American English and /hapi/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “hap”. Build it as HAP-py, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “happy” have?

2: hap · py. The beat lands on the first, “hap”.

Is “happy” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈhæpi/ (HA-pee); British English says /hapi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “happy” mean?

As an adjective: enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure For example: “a happy smile” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “happy”?

Stress the first syllable: HAP-py. “hap” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “happy” 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.

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