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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “identical”

“identical” is pronounced /aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/ (y-DEN-ti-kuhl) in American English and /aɪdɛntɪkəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “en”.
The sound

Say “identical” in 4 beats

Say it like this

identical

/aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/

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

4 beats
  1. idaɪ
  2. endɛnstress
  3. tictɪ
  4. alkəl
IPA (American)
/aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/
IPA (British)
/aɪdɛntɪkəl/
Respelling
y-DEN-ti-kuhl
Syllables
4 — id-EN-tic-al
Stress
Stress the second syllable: id-EN-tic-al. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/

British

/aɪdɛntɪkəl/

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

Meaning

What “identical” means

  1. adjective

    exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different

    “rows of identical houses”

  2. adjective

    being the exact same one; not any other:

    “this is the identical room we stayed in before”

  3. adjective

    (of twins) derived from a single egg or ovum

    “identical twins are monovular”

Say it in a sentence

“The two cottages look identical from the far bank.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
aɪlong iddɛshort ennttɪshort ikkəschwall

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

Questions

“identical”, answered

How do you pronounce “identical”?

“identical” is pronounced /aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/ (y-DEN-ti-kuhl) in American English and /aɪdɛntɪkəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “en”. Build it as id-EN-tic-al, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “identical” have?

4: id · en · tic · al. The beat lands on the second, “en”.

Is “identical” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /aɪˈdɛntɪkəl/ (y-DEN-ti-kuhl); British English says /aɪdɛntɪkəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “identical” mean?

As an adjective: exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different For example: “rows of identical houses” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “identical”?

Stress the second syllable: id-EN-tic-al. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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