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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “lightning”

“lightning” is pronounced /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/ (LYTE-ning) — 2 syllables, stressed on “ligh”.
The sound

Say “lightning” in 2 beats

Say it like this

lightning

/ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. lighlaɪtstress
  2. tningnɪŋ
IPA (American)
/ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/
IPA (British)
/ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/
Respelling
LYTE-ning
Syllables
2 — LIGH-tning
Stress
Stress the first syllable: LIGH-tning. “ligh” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Watch out

Where “lightning” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    “LY-ten-ing”

    two syllables for the flash; the three-syllable lightening means making lighter

Meaning

What “lightning” means

  1. noun

    abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light

  2. noun

    the flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere (or something resembling such a flash); can scintillate for a second or more

Say it in a sentence

“Lightning lit up the whole valley for a second or two.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
llaɪlong ittnnɪshort iŋng

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

Questions

“lightning”, answered

How do you pronounce “lightning”?

“lightning” is pronounced /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/ (LYTE-ning) — 2 syllables, stressed on “ligh”. Build it as LIGH-tning, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “lightning” have?

2: ligh · tning. The beat lands on the first, “ligh”. Read letter by letter it looks like 3 (LY-ten-ing), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 2.

What does “lightning” mean?

As a noun: abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light For example: “Lightning lit up the whole valley for a second or two.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “lightning”?

Stress the first syllable: LIGH-tning. “ligh” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

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