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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “motivated”

“motivated” is pronounced /ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/ (MOH-tuh-vay-tuhd) in American English and /məʊtɪveɪtɪd/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “mot”.
The sound

Say “motivated” in 4 beats

Say it like this

motivated

/ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/

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

4 beats
  1. motmoʊstress
  2. ivtə
  3. atveɪ
  4. edtəd
IPA (American)
/ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/
IPA (British)
/məʊtɪveɪtɪd/
Respelling
MOH-tuh-vay-tuhd
Syllables
4 — MOT-iv-at-ed
Stress
Stress the first syllable: MOT-iv-at-ed. “mot” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb, adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/

British

/məʊtɪveɪtɪd/

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

Meaning

What “motivated” means

  1. verb

    give an incentive for action

    “This moved me to sacrifice my career”

  2. adjective

    provided with a motive or given incentive for action

    “a highly motivated child can learn almost anything”

Say it in a sentence

“A motivated class will forgive a great deal of bad teaching.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
mmoʊlong ott×2əschwa×2vveɪlong add

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

Questions

“motivated”, answered

How do you pronounce “motivated”?

“motivated” is pronounced /ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/ (MOH-tuh-vay-tuhd) in American English and /məʊtɪveɪtɪd/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “mot”. Build it as MOT-iv-at-ed, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “motivated” have?

4: mot · iv · at · ed. The beat lands on the first, “mot”.

Is “motivated” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈmoʊtəˌveɪtəd/ (MOH-tuh-vay-tuhd); British English says /məʊtɪveɪtɪd/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “motivated” mean?

As a verb: give an incentive for action For example: “This moved me to sacrifice my career” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “motivated”?

Stress the first syllable: MOT-iv-at-ed. “mot” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “motivated” and see every sound

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