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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “umbrella”

“umbrella” is pronounced /ʌmˈbɹɛlə/ (um-BREL-uh) — 3 syllables, stressed on “rel”.
The sound

Say “umbrella” in 3 beats

Say it like this

umbrella

/ʌmˈbɹɛlə/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. umbʌm
  2. relbɹɛstress
  3. lalə
IPA (American)
/ʌmˈbɹɛlə/
IPA (British)
/ʌmˈbɹɛlə/
Respelling
um-BREL-uh
Syllables
3 — umb-REL-la
Stress
Stress the second syllable: umb-REL-la. “rel” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Watch out

Where “umbrella” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    “um-buh-REL-uh”

    three syllables: keep the br together

Meaning

What “umbrella” means

  1. noun

    a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy

  2. noun

    a formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets

    “an air umbrella over England”

  3. noun

    having the function of uniting a group of similar things

    “the Democratic Party is an umbrella for many liberal groups”

Say it in a sentence

“Take an umbrella; the forecast promises rain by late afternoon.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ʌshort ummbbɹrɛshort elləschwa

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

Questions

“umbrella”, answered

How do you pronounce “umbrella”?

“umbrella” is pronounced /ʌmˈbɹɛlə/ (um-BREL-uh) — 3 syllables, stressed on “rel”. Build it as umb-REL-la, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “umbrella” have?

3: umb · rel · la. The beat lands on the second, “rel”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (um-buh-REL-uh), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.

What does “umbrella” mean?

As a noun: a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy For example: “Take an umbrella; the forecast promises rain by late afternoon.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “umbrella”?

Stress the second syllable: umb-REL-la. “rel” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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