How to pronounce “upset”
“upset” is said two ways
/əpˈsɛt/
up-SET
To distress, or to overturn — and the adjective, feeling upset, is the same.
/ˈʌpˌsɛt/
UP-set
The shock result, or a stomach upset. Beat on UP.
Listen for the beat, not the letters
One syllable gets longer, louder and a step higher, and the other one collapses towards a schwa. Say the whole sentence rather than the word on its own and let the grammar pull the beat where it belongs.Both forms live in one sentence here: “The upset result did upset a lot of people.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “upset” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the verb and the noun. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “upset” in 2 beats
upset
/əpˈsɛt/
Everything in this card describes the verb form. As a noun it is /ˈʌpˌsɛt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ʌpˈsɛt/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- upəp
- setsɛtstress
- IPA (American)
- /əpˈsɛt/
- IPA (British)
- /ʌpˈsɛt/
- Respelling
- up-SET (verb) · UP-set (noun)
- Syllables
- 2 — up-SET
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: up-SET. “set” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
This is the verb form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/əpˈsɛt/
/ʌpˈsɛt/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “upset” goes wrong
- Often heard
“a stomach up-SET”
the noun front-stresses — UP-set; only the verb and adjective are up-SET
What “upset” means
- noun
an unhappy and worried mental state
“there was too much anger and disturbance”
- noun
the act of disturbing the mind or body
“his carelessness could have caused an ecological upset”
- noun
a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning
“the doctor prescribed some medicine for the disorder”
Say it in a sentence
“The upset result did upset a lot of people.”“upset”, answered
How do you pronounce “upset”?
“upset” has two pronunciations: /əpˈsɛt/ as a verb and /ˈʌpˌsɛt/ as a noun — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the beat does, and the vowels reshape around wherever it lands. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the verb form. Build it as up-SET, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “upset” have?
2: up · set. The beat lands on the second, “set”.
Which pronunciation of “upset” is correct?
Both are. /əpˈsɛt/ (up-SET) as a verb; /ˈʌpˌsɛt/ (UP-set) as a noun. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does. Move the beat and the word changes its job mid-sentence, which is why both are worth drilling. Both appear here: “The upset result did upset a lot of people.”
Is “upset” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /əpˈsɛt/ (up-SET); British English says /ʌpˈsɛt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “upset” mean?
As a noun: an unhappy and worried mental state For example: “there was too much anger and disturbance” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “upset”?
Stress the second syllable: up-SET. “set” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “upset” 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.