Pronunciation

How to pronounce “navigate

“navigate” is pronounced /ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/ (NA-vuh-gayt) in American English and /navɪɡeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “næ”.
The sound

Say “navigate” in 3 beats

Say it like this

navigate

/ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/

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

3 beats
  1. stress
  2. ɡeɪtɡeɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/
IPA (British)
/navɪɡeɪt/
Respelling
NA-vuh-gayt
Syllables
3 — NÆ-və-ɡeɪt
Stress
Stress the first syllable: NÆ-və-ɡeɪt. “næ” 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

/ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/

British

/navɪɡeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “navigate” means

  1. verb

    travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

    The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow

  2. verb

    act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

    Is anyone volunteering to navigate during the trip?

  3. verb

    direct carefully and safely

    He navigated his way to the altar

Say it in a sentence

You can navigate that channel only at high tide.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them

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

Questions

navigate”, answered

How do you pronounce “navigate”?

“navigate” is pronounced /ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/ (NA-vuh-gayt) in American English and /navɪɡeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “næ”. Build it as NÆ-və-ɡeɪt, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “navigate” have?

3: næ · və · ɡeɪt. The beat lands on the first, “næ”.

Is “navigate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈnævəˌɡeɪt/ (NA-vuh-gayt); British English says /navɪɡeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “navigate” mean?

As a verb: travel on water propelled by wind or by other means For example: “The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “navigate”?

Stress the first syllable: NÆ-və-ɡeɪt. “næ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “navigate” 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.