Pronunciation

How to pronounce “portfolio

“portfolio” is pronounced /pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/ (pawrt-FOH-lee-oh) in American English and /pɔːtfəʊlɪəʊ/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “foʊ”.
The sound

Say “portfolio” in 4 beats

Say it like this

portfolio

/pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/

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

4 beats
  1. pɔɹtpɔɹt
  2. foʊfoʊstress
  3. lili
IPA (American)
/pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/
IPA (British)
/pɔːtfəʊlɪəʊ/
Respelling
pawrt-FOH-lee-oh
Syllables
4 — pɔɹt-FOƱ-li-oʊ
Stress
Stress the second syllable: pɔɹt-FOƱ-li-oʊ. “foʊ” 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

/pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/

British

/pɔːtfəʊlɪəʊ/

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

Meaning

What “portfolio” means

  1. noun

    a large, flat, thin case for carrying loose papers or drawings or maps; usually leather

    he remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio

  2. noun

    a set of pieces of creative work collected to be shown to potential customers or employers

    the artist had put together a portfolio of his work

  3. noun

    a list of the financial assets held by an individual or a bank or other financial institution

    they were disappointed by the poor returns on their stock portfolio

Say it in a sentence

Her portfolio included work from three very different fields.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 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

portfolio”, answered

How do you pronounce “portfolio”?

“portfolio” is pronounced /pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/ (pawrt-FOH-lee-oh) in American English and /pɔːtfəʊlɪəʊ/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “foʊ”. Build it as pɔɹt-FOƱ-li-oʊ, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “portfolio” have?

4: pɔɹt · foʊ · li · oʊ. The beat lands on the second, “foʊ”.

Is “portfolio” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɔɹtˈfoʊliˌoʊ/ (pawrt-FOH-lee-oh); British English says /pɔːtfəʊlɪəʊ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “portfolio” mean?

As a noun: a large, flat, thin case for carrying loose papers or drawings or maps; usually leather For example: “he remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “portfolio”?

Stress the second syllable: pɔɹt-FOƱ-li-oʊ. “foʊ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “portfolio” 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.