How to pronounce “retention”
Say “retention” in 3 beats
retention
/ɹiˈtɛnʃən/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɹɪtɛnʃən/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- retɹi
- entɛnstress
- tionʃən
- IPA (American)
- /ɹiˈtɛnʃən/
- IPA (British)
- /ɹɪtɛnʃən/
- Respelling
- ree-TEN-shuhn
- Syllables
- 3 — ret-EN-tion
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ret-EN-tion. “en” 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
American and British are not the same here
/ɹiˈtɛnʃən/
/ɹɪtɛnʃən/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “retention” means
- noun
the act of retaining something
- noun
the power of retaining and recalling past experience
“he had a good memory when he was younger”
- noun
the power of retaining liquid
“moisture retentivity of soil”
Say it in a sentence
“Staff retention improved once the shifts became predictable.”“retention”, answered
How do you pronounce “retention”?
“retention” is pronounced /ɹiˈtɛnʃən/ (ree-TEN-shuhn) in American English and /ɹɪtɛnʃən/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “en”. Build it as ret-EN-tion, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “retention” have?
3: ret · en · tion. The beat lands on the second, “en”.
Is “retention” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ɹiˈtɛnʃən/ (ree-TEN-shuhn); British English says /ɹɪtɛnʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “retention” mean?
As a noun: the act of retaining something For example: “Staff retention improved once the shifts became predictable.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “retention”?
Stress the second syllable: ret-EN-tion. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “retention” 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.