Pronunciation

How to pronounce “hypothetically

“hypothetically” is pronounced /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/ (hy-puh-THE-ti-klee) in American English and /haɪpəθɛtɪkli/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “θɛ”.
The sound

Say “hypothetically” in 5 beats

Say it like this

hypothetically

/ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/

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

5 beats
  1. haɪhaɪ
  2. θɛθɛstress
  3. klikli
IPA (American)
/ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/
IPA (British)
/haɪpəθɛtɪkli/
Respelling
hy-puh-THE-ti-klee
Syllables
5 — haɪ-pə-ΘƐ-tɪ-kli
Stress
Stress the third syllable: haɪ-pə-ΘƐ-tɪ-kli. “θɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adverb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/

British

/haɪpəθɛtɪkli/

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

Meaning

What “hypothetically” means

  1. adverb

    by hypothesis

Say it in a sentence

Hypothetically, we could walk there in about four hours.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

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

Questions

hypothetically”, answered

How do you pronounce “hypothetically”?

“hypothetically” is pronounced /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/ (hy-puh-THE-ti-klee) in American English and /haɪpəθɛtɪkli/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “θɛ”. Build it as haɪ-pə-ΘƐ-tɪ-kli, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “hypothetically” have?

5: haɪ · pə · θɛ · tɪ · kli. The beat lands on the third, “θɛ”.

Is “hypothetically” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkli/ (hy-puh-THE-ti-klee); British English says /haɪpəθɛtɪkli/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “hypothetically” mean?

As an adverb: by hypothesis For example: “Hypothetically, we could walk there in about four hours.”

Where is the stress in “hypothetically”?

Stress the third syllable: haɪ-pə-ΘƐ-tɪ-kli. “θɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “hypothetically” and see every sound

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