Pronunciation

How to pronounce “notion

“notion” is pronounced /ˈnoʊʃən/ (NOH-shuhn) in American English and /nəʊʃən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “not”.
The sound

Say “notion” in 2 beats

Say it like this

notion

/ˈnoʊʃən/

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

2 beats
  1. notnoʊstress
  2. ionʃən
IPA (American)
/ˈnoʊʃən/
IPA (British)
/nəʊʃən/
Respelling
NOH-shuhn
Syllables
2 — NOT-ion
Stress
Stress the first syllable: NOT-ion. “not” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈnoʊʃən/

British

/nəʊʃən/

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

Meaning

What “notion” means

  1. noun

    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

    his impression of her was favorable

  2. noun

    a general inclusive concept

  3. noun

    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea

    the theatrical notion of disguise is associated with disaster in his stories

Say it in a sentence

She had some notion of opening a bakery one day.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 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

notion”, answered

How do you pronounce “notion”?

“notion” is pronounced /ˈnoʊʃən/ (NOH-shuhn) in American English and /nəʊʃən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “not”. Build it as NOT-ion, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “notion” have?

2: not · ion. The beat lands on the first, “not”.

Is “notion” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈnoʊʃən/ (NOH-shuhn); British English says /nəʊʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “notion” mean?

As a noun: a vague idea in which some confidence is placed For example: “his impression of her was favorable” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “notion”?

Stress the first syllable: NOT-ion. “not” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “notion” 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.