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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “suspend”

“suspend” is pronounced /səˈspɛnd/ (suh-SPEND) in American English and /səspɛnd/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “pend”.
The sound

Say “suspend” in 2 beats

Say it like this

suspend

/səˈspɛnd/

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

2 beats
  1. sussə
  2. pendspɛndstress
IPA (American)
/səˈspɛnd/
IPA (British)
/səspɛnd/
Respelling
suh-SPEND
Syllables
2 — sus-PEND
Stress
Stress the second syllable: sus-PEND. “pend” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/səˈspɛnd/

British

/səspɛnd/

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

Meaning

What “suspend” means

  1. verb

    hang freely

    “The secret police suspended their victims from the ceiling and beat them”

  2. verb

    cause to be held in suspension in a fluid

    “suspend the particles”

  3. verb

    bar temporarily; from school, office, etc.

Say it in a sentence

“Suspend the lantern from the beam above the door.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ss×2əschwappɛshort enndd

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“suspend”, answered

How do you pronounce “suspend”?

“suspend” is pronounced /səˈspɛnd/ (suh-SPEND) in American English and /səspɛnd/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “pend”. Build it as sus-PEND, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “suspend” have?

2: sus · pend. The beat lands on the second, “pend”.

Is “suspend” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /səˈspɛnd/ (suh-SPEND); British English says /səspɛnd/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “suspend” mean?

As a verb: hang freely For example: “The secret police suspended their victims from the ceiling and beat them” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “suspend”?

Stress the second syllable: sus-PEND. “pend” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “suspend” and see every sound

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