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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “taken”

“taken” is pronounced /ˈteɪkən/ (TAY-kuhn) in American English and /teɪkən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “tak”.
The sound

Say “taken” in 2 beats

Say it like this

taken

/ˈteɪkən/

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

2 beats
  1. takteɪstress
  2. enkən
IPA (American)
/ˈteɪkən/
IPA (British)
/teɪkən/
Respelling
TAY-kuhn
Syllables
2 — TAK-en
Stress
Stress the first syllable: TAK-en. “tak” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb, adjective
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈteɪkən/

British

/teɪkən/

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

Meaning

What “taken” means

  1. verb

    carry out

    “take action”

  2. verb

    require (time or space)

    “It took three hours to get to work this morning”

  3. verb

    take somebody somewhere

    “We lead him to our chief”

Say it in a sentence

“The last two seats on the flight were already taken.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
tteɪlong akkəschwann

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

Questions

“taken”, answered

How do you pronounce “taken”?

“taken” is pronounced /ˈteɪkən/ (TAY-kuhn) in American English and /teɪkən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “tak”. Build it as TAK-en, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “taken” have?

2: tak · en. The beat lands on the first, “tak”.

Is “taken” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈteɪkən/ (TAY-kuhn); British English says /teɪkən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “taken” mean?

As a verb: carry out For example: “take action” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “taken”?

Stress the first syllable: TAK-en. “tak” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “taken” and see every sound

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