sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “professional”

“professional” is pronounced /pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/ (pruh-FE-shuh-nuhl) in American English and /pɹəfɛʃənəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “es”.
The sound

Say “professional” in 4 beats

Say it like this

professional

/pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/

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

4 beats
  1. profpɹə
  2. esfɛstress
  3. sionʃə
  4. alnəl
IPA (American)
/pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/
IPA (British)
/pɹəfɛʃənəl/
Respelling
pruh-FE-shuh-nuhl
Syllables
4 — prof-ES-sion-al
Stress
Stress the second syllable: prof-ES-sion-al. “es” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/

British

/pɹəfɛʃənəl/

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

Meaning

What “professional” means

  1. noun

    a person engaged in one of the learned professions

  2. noun

    an athlete who plays for pay

  3. noun

    an authority qualified to teach apprentices

Say it in a sentence

“She is a professional translator working mainly with medical texts.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɹrəschwa×3ffɛshort eʃshnnll

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

Questions

“professional”, answered

How do you pronounce “professional”?

“professional” is pronounced /pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/ (pruh-FE-shuh-nuhl) in American English and /pɹəfɛʃənəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “es”. Build it as prof-ES-sion-al, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “professional” have?

4: prof · es · sion · al. The beat lands on the second, “es”.

Is “professional” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/ (pruh-FE-shuh-nuhl); British English says /pɹəfɛʃənəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “professional” mean?

As a noun: a person engaged in one of the learned professions For example: “She is a professional translator working mainly with medical texts.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “professional”?

Stress the second syllable: prof-ES-sion-al. “es” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “professional” 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