Pronunciation

How to pronounce “sphere

“sphere” is pronounced /sfɪɹ/ (SFIR) in American English and /sfiə/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “sphere” in one beat

Say it like this

sphere

/sfɪɹ/

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

1 beat
  1. spheresfɪɹ
IPA (American)
/sfɪɹ/
IPA (British)
/sfiə/
Respelling
SFIR
Syllables
1 — sphere
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /sfɪɹ/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
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

/sfɪɹ/

British

/sfiə/

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

Meaning

What “sphere” means

  1. noun

    a particular environment or walk of life

    his social sphere is limited

  2. noun

    any spherically shaped artifact

  3. noun

    the geographical area in which one nation is very influential

Say it in a sentence

Local gossip is entirely outside his sphere of interest.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 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

sphere”, answered

How do you pronounce “sphere”?

“sphere” is pronounced /sfɪɹ/ (SFIR) in American English and /sfiə/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /sfɪɹ/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “sphere” have?

One, despite the 2 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /sfɪɹ/ — a single beat.

Is “sphere” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /sfɪɹ/ (SFIR); British English says /sfiə/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “sphere” mean?

As a noun: a particular environment or walk of life For example: “his social sphere is limited” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “sphere”?

One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /sfɪɹ/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.

Practise this word

Now say “sphere” 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.