How to pronounce “separate”
“separate” is said two ways
/ˈsɛpɹət/
SEP-ruht
Meaning apart. The ending collapses to -ruht and the word often loses a syllable.
/ˈsɛpɚˌeɪt/
SEP-uh-rayt
To divide. The ending is a full -rayt, three syllables clearly said.
Listen for the vowel, not the letters
The spelling never moves; the sounds inside it do. Practise the two back to back, so your mouth stops defaulting to whichever one you learnt first.Both forms live in one sentence here: “We separate the forms and keep a separate copy of each.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “separate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the adjective and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “separate” in 2 beats
separate
/ˈsɛpɹət/
Everything in this card describes the adjective form. As a verb it is /ˈsɛpɚˌeɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- sɛsɛstress
- pɹətpɹət
- IPA (American)
- /ˈsɛpɹət/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈsɛpɹət/
- Respelling
- SEP-ruht (adjective) · SEP-uh-rayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 2 — SƐ-pɹət
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: SƐ-pɹət. “sɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Where “separate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“SEP-uh-rayt rooms”
the adjective ends in -ruht; only the verb ends in -rayt
What “separate” means
- noun
a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication
- noun
a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments
- verb
act as a barrier between; stand between
“The mountain range divides the two countries”
Say it in a sentence
“We separate the forms and keep a separate copy of each.”“separate”, answered
How do you pronounce “separate”?
“separate” has two pronunciations: /ˈsɛpɹət/ as an adjective and /ˈsɛpɚˌeɪt/ as a verb — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the sounds inside it do, and nothing on the page tells you which one a sentence wants. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the adjective form. Build it as SƐ-pɹət, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “separate” have?
2: sɛ · pɹət. The beat lands on the first, “sɛ”. Read letter by letter it looks like 3 (SEP-uh-rayt rooms), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 2.
Which pronunciation of “separate” is correct?
Both are. /ˈsɛpɹət/ (SEP-ruht) as an adjective; /ˈsɛpɚˌeɪt/ (SEP-uh-rayt) as a verb. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does, and the two are as different as any two words. Both appear here: “We separate the forms and keep a separate copy of each.”
What does “separate” mean?
As a noun: a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication For example: “We separate the forms and keep a separate copy of each.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “separate”?
Stress the first syllable: SƐ-pɹət. “sɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “separate” 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.