Pronunciation

How to pronounce “presume

“presume” is pronounced /pɹɪˈzum/ (pri-ZOOM) in American English and /pɹɪzjuːm/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “zum”.
The sound

Say “presume” in 2 beats

Say it like this

presume

/pɹɪˈzum/

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

2 beats
  1. pɹɪpɹɪ
  2. zumzumstress
IPA (American)
/pɹɪˈzum/
IPA (British)
/pɹɪzjuːm/
Respelling
pri-ZOOM
Syllables
2 — pɹɪ-ZUM
Stress
Stress the second syllable: pɹɪ-ZUM. “zum” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɹɪˈzum/

British

/pɹɪzjuːm/

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

Meaning

What “presume” means

  1. verb

    take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof

    I assume his train was late

  2. verb

    take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission

    How dare you call my lawyer?

  3. verb

    constitute reasonable evidence for

    A restaurant bill presumes the consumption of food

Say it in a sentence

I presume the meeting has been moved to Thursday.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 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

presume”, answered

How do you pronounce “presume”?

“presume” is pronounced /pɹɪˈzum/ (pri-ZOOM) in American English and /pɹɪzjuːm/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “zum”. Build it as pɹɪ-ZUM, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “presume” have?

2: pɹɪ · zum. The beat lands on the second, “zum”.

Is “presume” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɹɪˈzum/ (pri-ZOOM); British English says /pɹɪzjuːm/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “presume” mean?

As a verb: take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof For example: “I assume his train was late” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “presume”?

Stress the second syllable: pɹɪ-ZUM. “zum” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “presume” 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.