Pronunciation

How to pronounce “patients

“patients” is pronounced /ˈpeɪʃənts/ (PAY-shuhnts) in American English and /peɪʃənts/ in British English, and /ˈpeɪʃənz/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “pat”.
The sound

Say “patients” in 2 beats

Say it like this

patients

/ˈpeɪʃənts/

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

2 beats
  1. patpeɪstress
  2. ientsʃənts
IPA (American)
/ˈpeɪʃənts/
IPA (British)
/peɪʃənts/
Also accepted
/ˈpeɪʃənz/
Respelling
PAY-shuhnts
Syllables
2 — PAT-ients
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PAT-ients. “pat” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈpeɪʃənts/

British

/peɪʃənts/

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

Meaning

What “patients” means

  1. noun

    a person who requires medical care

    the number of emergency patients has grown rapidly

  2. noun

    the semantic role of an entity that is not the agent but is directly involved in or affected by the happening denoted by the verb in the clause

Say it in a sentence

The clinic sees dozens of patients every single day.
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

patients”, answered

How do you pronounce “patients”?

“patients” is pronounced /ˈpeɪʃənts/ (PAY-shuhnts) in American English and /peɪʃənts/ in British English, and /ˈpeɪʃənz/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “pat”. Build it as PAT-ients, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “patients” have?

2: pat · ients. The beat lands on the first, “pat”.

Is “patients” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpeɪʃənts/ (PAY-shuhnts); British English says /peɪʃənts/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “patients” mean?

As a noun: a person who requires medical care For example: “the number of emergency patients has grown rapidly” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “patients”?

Stress the first syllable: PAT-ients. “pat” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “patients” 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.