Pronunciation

How to pronounce “interpret

“interpret” is pronounced /ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/ (in-TUR-pruht) in American English and /ɪntɜːpɹɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “terp”.
The sound

Say “interpret” in 3 beats

Say it like this

interpret

/ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/

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

3 beats
  1. inɪn
  2. terpstress
  3. retpɹət
IPA (American)
/ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/
IPA (British)
/ɪntɜːpɹɪt/
Respelling
in-TUR-pruht
Syllables
3 — in-TERP-ret
Stress
Stress the second syllable: in-TERP-ret. “terp” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/

British

/ɪntɜːpɹɪt/

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

Meaning

What “interpret” means

  1. verb

    make sense of; assign a meaning to

    What message do you see in this letter?

  2. verb

    give an interpretation or explanation to

  3. verb

    give an interpretation or rendition of

    The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully

Say it in a sentence

It is easy to interpret silence as agreement.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 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

interpret”, answered

How do you pronounce “interpret”?

“interpret” is pronounced /ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/ (in-TUR-pruht) in American English and /ɪntɜːpɹɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “terp”. Build it as in-TERP-ret, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “interpret” have?

3: in · terp · ret. The beat lands on the second, “terp”.

Is “interpret” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌɪnˈtɝpɹət/ (in-TUR-pruht); British English says /ɪntɜːpɹɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “interpret” mean?

As a verb: make sense of; assign a meaning to For example: “What message do you see in this letter?” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “interpret”?

Stress the second syllable: in-TERP-ret. “terp” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “interpret” 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.