How to pronounce “motive”
Say “motive” in 2 beats
motive
/ˈmoʊtɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /məʊtɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- moʊmoʊstress
- tɪvtɪv
- IPA (American)
- /ˈmoʊtɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /məʊtɪv/
- Respelling
- MOH-tiv
- Syllables
- 2 — MOƱ-tɪv
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: MOƱ-tɪv. “moʊ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈmoʊtɪv/
/məʊtɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “motive” means
- noun
the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
“we did not understand his motivation”
- noun
a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
- noun
a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
Say it in a sentence
“Nobody could think of a motive for taking the boots.”“motive”, answered
How do you pronounce “motive”?
“motive” is pronounced /ˈmoʊtɪv/ (MOH-tiv) in American English and /məʊtɪv/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “moʊ”. Build it as MOƱ-tɪv, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “motive” have?
2: moʊ · tɪv. The beat lands on the first, “moʊ”.
Is “motive” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈmoʊtɪv/ (MOH-tiv); British English says /məʊtɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “motive” mean?
As a noun: the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior For example: “we did not understand his motivation” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “motive”?
Stress the first syllable: MOƱ-tɪv. “moʊ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “motive” 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.