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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “tangential”

“tangential” is pronounced /tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/ (tan-JEN-shuhl) in American English and /tandʒɛnʃəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “gen”.
The sound

Say “tangential” in 3 beats

Say it like this

tangential

/tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/

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

3 beats
  1. tantæn
  2. gendʒɛnstress
  3. tialʃəl
IPA (American)
/tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/
IPA (British)
/tandʒɛnʃəl/
Respelling
tan-JEN-shuhl
Syllables
3 — tan-GEN-tial
Stress
Stress the second syllable: tan-GEN-tial. “gen” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/

British

/tandʒɛnʃəl/

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

Meaning

What “tangential” means

  1. adjective

    of superficial relevance if any

    “a digressive allusion to the day of the week”

  2. adjective

    of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent

    “tangential forces”

Say it in a sentence

“That point is tangential to what we are deciding today.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
ttæshort ann×2dʒjɛshort eʃshəschwall

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

Questions

“tangential”, answered

How do you pronounce “tangential”?

“tangential” is pronounced /tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/ (tan-JEN-shuhl) in American English and /tandʒɛnʃəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “gen”. Build it as tan-GEN-tial, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “tangential” have?

3: tan · gen · tial. The beat lands on the second, “gen”.

Is “tangential” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /tænˈdʒɛnʃəl/ (tan-JEN-shuhl); British English says /tandʒɛnʃəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “tangential” mean?

As an adjective: of superficial relevance if any For example: “a digressive allusion to the day of the week” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “tangential”?

Stress the second syllable: tan-GEN-tial. “gen” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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