How to pronounce “less”
Say “less” in one beat
less
/lɛs/
The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- lesslɛs
- IPA (American)
- /lɛs/
- IPA (British)
- /lɛs/
- Respelling
- LES
- Syllables
- 1 — less
- Stress
- One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /lɛs/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
- Part of speech
- adjective, adverb
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
What “less” means
- adjective
(comparative of `little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree
“of less importance”
- adjective
(usually preceded by `no') lower in quality
“no less than perfect”
- adjective
(nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer
“less than three weeks”
Say it in a sentence
“He spends less time watching television these days.”“less”, answered
How do you pronounce “less”?
“less” is pronounced /lɛs/ (LES) — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /lɛs/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.
How many syllables does “less” have?
One, despite the 1 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /lɛs/ — a single beat.
What does “less” mean?
As an adjective: (comparative of `little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree For example: “of less importance” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “less”?
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /lɛs/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Now say “less” 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.