Pronunciation

How to pronounce “punctual

“punctual” is pronounced /ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/ (PUNGK-choo-uhl) in American English and /pʌŋktʃuːəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pʌŋk”.
The sound

Say “punctual” in 3 beats

Say it like this

punctual

/ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/

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

3 beats
  1. pʌŋkpʌŋkstress
  2. tʃutʃu
  3. ələl
IPA (American)
/ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/
IPA (British)
/pʌŋktʃuːəl/
Respelling
PUNGK-choo-uhl
Syllables
3 — PɅŊK-tʃu-əl
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PɅŊK-tʃu-əl. “pʌŋk” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/

British

/pʌŋktʃuːəl/

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

Meaning

What “punctual” means

  1. adjective

    acting or arriving or performed exactly at the time appointed

    she expected guests to be punctual at meals

Say it in a sentence

The morning train is punctual almost every single day.
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

punctual”, answered

How do you pronounce “punctual”?

“punctual” is pronounced /ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/ (PUNGK-choo-uhl) in American English and /pʌŋktʃuːəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pʌŋk”. Build it as PɅŊK-tʃu-əl, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “punctual” have?

3: pʌŋk · tʃu · əl. The beat lands on the first, “pʌŋk”.

Is “punctual” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/ (PUNGK-choo-uhl); British English says /pʌŋktʃuːəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “punctual” mean?

As an adjective: acting or arriving or performed exactly at the time appointed For example: “she expected guests to be punctual at meals”

Where is the stress in “punctual”?

Stress the first syllable: PɅŊK-tʃu-əl. “pʌŋk” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “punctual” 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.