Pronunciation

How to pronounce “stable

“stable” is pronounced /ˈsteɪbəl/ (STAY-buhl) in American English and /steɪbəl/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “stab”.
The sound

Say “stable” in 2 beats

Say it like this

stable

/ˈsteɪbəl/

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

2 beats
  1. stabsteɪstress
  2. lebəl
IPA (American)
/ˈsteɪbəl/
IPA (British)
/steɪbəl/
Respelling
STAY-buhl
Syllables
2 — STAB-le
Stress
Stress the first syllable: STAB-le. “stab” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun, verb, adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈsteɪbəl/

British

/steɪbəl/

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

Meaning

What “stable” means

  1. noun

    a farm building for housing horses or other livestock

  2. verb

    shelter in a stable

    stable horses

  3. adjective

    resistant to change of position or condition

    a stable ladder

Say it in a sentence

The old stable now holds bicycles instead of horses.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 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

stable”, answered

How do you pronounce “stable”?

“stable” is pronounced /ˈsteɪbəl/ (STAY-buhl) in American English and /steɪbəl/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “stab”. Build it as STAB-le, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “stable” have?

2: stab · le. The beat lands on the first, “stab”.

Is “stable” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈsteɪbəl/ (STAY-buhl); British English says /steɪbəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “stable” mean?

As a noun: a farm building for housing horses or other livestock For example: “The old stable now holds bicycles instead of horses.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “stable”?

Stress the first syllable: STAB-le. “stab” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “stable” 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.