sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “percentage”

“percentage” is pronounced /pɚˈsɛntədʒ/ (puh-SEN-tuhj) in American English and /pəsɛntɪdʒ/ in British English, and /pɚˈsɛnədʒ/ and /pɚˈsɛntɪdʒ/ and /pɚˈsɛnɪdʒ/ are also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “sɛn”.
The sound

Say “percentage” in 3 beats

Say it like this

percentage

/pɚˈsɛntədʒ/

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

3 beats
  1. pɚpɚ
  2. sɛnsɛnstress
  3. tədʒtədʒ
IPA (American)
/pɚˈsɛntədʒ/
IPA (British)
/pəsɛntɪdʒ/
Also accepted
/pɚˈsɛnədʒ/
Also accepted
/pɚˈsɛntɪdʒ/
Also accepted
/pɚˈsɛnɪdʒ/
Respelling
puh-SEN-tuhj
Syllables
3 — pɚ-SƐN-tədʒ
Stress
Stress the second syllable: pɚ-SƐN-tədʒ. “sɛn” 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

/pɚˈsɛntədʒ/

British

/pəsɛntɪdʒ/

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

Meaning

What “percentage” means

  1. noun

    a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred)

  2. noun

    assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group

    “he wanted his share in cash”

Say it in a sentence

“Only a small percentage of applicants reach the interview.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɚschwa×2ssɛshort ennttdʒj

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“percentage”, answered

How do you pronounce “percentage”?

“percentage” is pronounced /pɚˈsɛntədʒ/ (puh-SEN-tuhj) in American English and /pəsɛntɪdʒ/ in British English, and /pɚˈsɛnədʒ/ and /pɚˈsɛntɪdʒ/ and /pɚˈsɛnɪdʒ/ are also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “sɛn”. Build it as pɚ-SƐN-tədʒ, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “percentage” have?

3: pɚ · sɛn · tədʒ. The beat lands on the second, “sɛn”.

Is “percentage” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɚˈsɛntədʒ/ (puh-SEN-tuhj); British English says /pəsɛntɪdʒ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “percentage” mean?

As a noun: a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred) For example: “Only a small percentage of applicants reach the interview.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “percentage”?

Stress the second syllable: pɚ-SƐN-tədʒ. “sɛn” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “percentage” 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.

Practise this word freeMore words with P