Pronunciation

How to pronounce “participation

“participation” is pronounced /pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/ (pahr-ti-suh-PAY-shuhn) in American English and /pɑːtɪsɪpeɪʃən/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “at”.
The sound

Say “participation” in 5 beats

Say it like this

participation

/pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/

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

5 beats
  1. parpɑɹ
  2. tic
  3. ip
  4. atpeɪstress
  5. ionʃən
IPA (American)
/pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/
IPA (British)
/pɑːtɪsɪpeɪʃən/
Respelling
pahr-ti-suh-PAY-shuhn
Syllables
5 — par-tic-ip-AT-ion
Stress
Stress the fourth syllable: par-tic-ip-AT-ion. “at” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/

British

/pɑːtɪsɪpeɪʃən/

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

Meaning

What “participation” means

  1. noun

    the act of sharing in the activities of a group

    the teacher tried to increase his students' engagement in class activities

  2. noun

    the condition of sharing in common with others (as fellows or partners etc.)

Say it in a sentence

Participation in the village fete has fallen every year.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

10 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

participation”, answered

How do you pronounce “participation”?

“participation” is pronounced /pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/ (pahr-ti-suh-PAY-shuhn) in American English and /pɑːtɪsɪpeɪʃən/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “at”. Build it as par-tic-ip-AT-ion, then run the fourth syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “participation” have?

5: par · tic · ip · at · ion. The beat lands on the fourth, “at”.

Is “participation” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɑɹˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/ (pahr-ti-suh-PAY-shuhn); British English says /pɑːtɪsɪpeɪʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “participation” mean?

As a noun: the act of sharing in the activities of a group For example: “the teacher tried to increase his students' engagement in class activities” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “participation”?

Stress the fourth syllable: par-tic-ip-AT-ion. “at” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “participation” 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.