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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “isolate”

“isolate” is pronounced /ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/ (Y-suh-layt) in American English and /aɪsəleɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “aɪ”.
The sound

Say “isolate” in 3 beats

Say it like this

isolate

/ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/

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

3 beats
  1. aɪaɪstress
  2. səsə
  3. leɪtleɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/
IPA (British)
/aɪsəleɪt/
Respelling
Y-suh-layt
Syllables
3 — AꞮ-sə-leɪt
Stress
Stress the first syllable: AꞮ-sə-leɪt. “aɪ” 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

/ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/

British

/aɪsəleɪt/

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

Meaning

What “isolate” means

  1. verb

    place or set apart

    “They isolated the political prisoners from the other inmates”

  2. verb

    obtain in pure form

    “The chemist managed to isolate the compound”

  3. verb

    set apart from others

    “The dentist sequesters the tooth he is working on”

Say it in a sentence

“We had to isolate the sick lamb from the flock.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
aɪlong issəschwalleɪlong att

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

Questions

“isolate”, answered

How do you pronounce “isolate”?

“isolate” is pronounced /ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/ (Y-suh-layt) in American English and /aɪsəleɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “aɪ”. Build it as AꞮ-sə-leɪt, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “isolate” have?

3: aɪ · sə · leɪt. The beat lands on the first, “aɪ”.

Is “isolate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈaɪsəˌleɪt/ (Y-suh-layt); British English says /aɪsəleɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “isolate” mean?

As a verb: place or set apart For example: “They isolated the political prisoners from the other inmates” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “isolate”?

Stress the first syllable: AꞮ-sə-leɪt. “aɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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