How to pronounce “paradigm”
Say “paradigm” in 3 beats
paradigm
/ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈpaɹədaɪm/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- parpɛstress
- adɹə
- igmdaɪm
- IPA (American)
- /ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈpaɹədaɪm/
- Respelling
- PA-ruh-dyme
- Syllables
- 3 — PAR-ad-igm
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: PAR-ad-igm. “par” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/
/ˈpaɹədaɪm/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “paradigm” goes wrong
- Often heard
“PA-ruh-dig-um”
the g is silent in the noun: PA-ruh-dyme
What “paradigm” means
- noun
systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
- noun
a standard or typical example
“he is the prototype of good breeding”
- noun
the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another)
Say it in a sentence
“Her book proposed a new paradigm for teaching young readers.”“paradigm”, answered
How do you pronounce “paradigm”?
“paradigm” is pronounced /ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/ (PA-ruh-dyme) in American English and /ˈpaɹədaɪm/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “par”. Build it as PAR-ad-igm, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “paradigm” have?
3: par · ad · igm. The beat lands on the first, “par”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (PA-ruh-dig-um), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.
Is “paradigm” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/ (PA-ruh-dyme); British English says /ˈpaɹədaɪm/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “paradigm” mean?
As a noun: systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word For example: “Her book proposed a new paradigm for teaching young readers.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “paradigm”?
Stress the first syllable: PAR-ad-igm. “par” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “paradigm” 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.