Pronunciation

How to pronounce “imagine

“imagine” is pronounced /ˌɪˈmædʒən/ (i-MA-juhn) in American English and /ɪmadʒɪn/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “mæ”.
The sound

Say “imagine” in 3 beats

Say it like this

imagine

/ˌɪˈmædʒən/

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

3 beats
  1. ɪɪ
  2. stress
  3. dʒəndʒən
IPA (American)
/ˌɪˈmædʒən/
IPA (British)
/ɪmadʒɪn/
Respelling
i-MA-juhn
Syllables
3 — ɪ-MÆ-dʒən
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ɪ-MÆ-dʒən. “mæ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˌɪˈmædʒən/

British

/ɪmadʒɪn/

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

Meaning

What “imagine” means

  1. verb

    form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case

    Can you conceive of him as the president?

  2. verb

    expect, believe, or suppose

    I imagine she earned a lot of money with her new novel

Say it in a sentence

It's hard to imagine the town without its old lighthouse.
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

imagine”, answered

How do you pronounce “imagine”?

“imagine” is pronounced /ˌɪˈmædʒən/ (i-MA-juhn) in American English and /ɪmadʒɪn/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “mæ”. Build it as ɪ-MÆ-dʒən, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “imagine” have?

3: ɪ · mæ · dʒən. The beat lands on the second, “mæ”.

Is “imagine” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌɪˈmædʒən/ (i-MA-juhn); British English says /ɪmadʒɪn/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “imagine” mean?

As a verb: form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case For example: “Can you conceive of him as the president?” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “imagine”?

Stress the second syllable: ɪ-MÆ-dʒən. “mæ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “imagine” 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.