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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “proficiency”

“proficiency” is pronounced /pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/ (pruh-FI-shuhn-see) in American English and /pɹəfɪʃənsi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ic”.
The sound

Say “proficiency” in 4 beats

Say it like this

proficiency

/pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/

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

4 beats
  1. profpɹə
  2. icfɪstress
  3. ienʃən
  4. cysi
IPA (American)
/pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/
IPA (British)
/pɹəfɪʃənsi/
Respelling
pruh-FI-shuhn-see
Syllables
4 — prof-IC-ien-cy
Stress
Stress the second syllable: prof-IC-ien-cy. “ic” 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

/pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/

British

/pɹəfɪʃənsi/

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

Meaning

What “proficiency” means

  1. noun

    the quality of having great facility and competence

  2. noun

    skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity

    “practice greatly improves proficiency”

Say it in a sentence

“The job requires proficiency in at least two languages.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɹrəschwa×2ffɪshort iʃshnnssilong e

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

Questions

“proficiency”, answered

How do you pronounce “proficiency”?

“proficiency” is pronounced /pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/ (pruh-FI-shuhn-see) in American English and /pɹəfɪʃənsi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ic”. Build it as prof-IC-ien-cy, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “proficiency” have?

4: prof · ic · ien · cy. The beat lands on the second, “ic”.

Is “proficiency” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɹəˈfɪʃənsi/ (pruh-FI-shuhn-see); British English says /pɹəfɪʃənsi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “proficiency” mean?

As a noun: the quality of having great facility and competence For example: “The job requires proficiency in at least two languages.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “proficiency”?

Stress the second syllable: prof-IC-ien-cy. “ic” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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