How to pronounce “passive”
Say “passive” in 2 beats
passive
/ˈpæsɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pasɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- pæpæstress
- sɪvsɪv
- IPA (American)
- /ˈpæsɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /pasɪv/
- Respelling
- PA-siv
- Syllables
- 2 — PÆ-sɪv
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: PÆ-sɪv. “pæ” 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
/ˈpæsɪv/
/pasɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “passive” means
- noun
the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb
“`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice”
- adjective
lacking in energy or will; - George Meredith
“Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself”
- adjective
peacefully resistant in response to injustice
“passive resistance”
Say it in a sentence
“'The window was broken' is in the passive.”“passive”, answered
How do you pronounce “passive”?
“passive” is pronounced /ˈpæsɪv/ (PA-siv) in American English and /pasɪv/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “pæ”. Build it as PÆ-sɪv, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “passive” have?
2: pæ · sɪv. The beat lands on the first, “pæ”.
Is “passive” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈpæsɪv/ (PA-siv); British English says /pasɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “passive” mean?
As a noun: the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb For example: “`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “passive”?
Stress the first syllable: PÆ-sɪv. “pæ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “passive” 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.