Pronunciation

How to pronounce “personality

“personality” is pronounced /ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/ (pur-suh-NA-li-tee) in American English and /pɜːsənalɪti/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “al”.
The sound

Say “personality” in 5 beats

Say it like this

personality

/ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/

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

5 beats
  1. per
  2. son
  3. alstress
  4. it
  5. yti
IPA (American)
/ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/
IPA (British)
/pɜːsənalɪti/
Respelling
pur-suh-NA-li-tee
Syllables
5 — per-son-AL-it-y
Stress
Stress the third syllable: per-son-AL-it-y. “al” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall 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

/ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/

British

/pɜːsənalɪti/

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

Meaning

What “personality” means

  1. noun

    the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual

    their different reactions reflected their very different personalities

  2. noun

    a person of considerable prominence

    she is a Hollywood personality

Say it in a sentence

His warm personality makes him very easy to work with.
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

personality”, answered

How do you pronounce “personality”?

“personality” is pronounced /ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/ (pur-suh-NA-li-tee) in American English and /pɜːsənalɪti/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “al”. Build it as per-son-AL-it-y, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “personality” have?

5: per · son · al · it · y. The beat lands on the third, “al”.

Is “personality” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌpɝsəˈnælɪti/ (pur-suh-NA-li-tee); British English says /pɜːsənalɪti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “personality” mean?

As a noun: the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual For example: “their different reactions reflected their very different personalities” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “personality”?

Stress the third syllable: per-son-AL-it-y. “al” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “personality” 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.