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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “very”

“very” is pronounced /ˈvɛɹi/ (VE-ree) in American English and /vɛɹi/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ver”.
The sound

Say “very” in 2 beats

Say it like this

very

/ˈvɛɹi/

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

2 beats
  1. vervɛstress
  2. yɹi
IPA (American)
/ˈvɛɹi/
IPA (British)
/vɛɹi/
Respelling
VE-ree
Syllables
2 — VER-y
Stress
Stress the first syllable: VER-y. “ver” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adjective, adverb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈvɛɹi/

British

/vɛɹi/

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

Meaning

What “very” means

  1. adjective

    precisely as stated

    “the very center of town”

  2. adjective

    being the exact same one; not any other:

    “this is the identical room we stayed in before”

  3. adverb

    used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal

    “she was very gifted”

Say it in a sentence

“The soup was very hot when it arrived at the table.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 sounds, in the order you say them
vvɛshort eɹrilong e

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

Questions

“very”, answered

How do you pronounce “very”?

“very” is pronounced /ˈvɛɹi/ (VE-ree) in American English and /vɛɹi/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ver”. Build it as VER-y, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “very” have?

2: ver · y. The beat lands on the first, “ver”.

Is “very” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈvɛɹi/ (VE-ree); British English says /vɛɹi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “very” mean?

As an adjective: precisely as stated For example: “the very center of town” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “very”?

Stress the first syllable: VER-y. “ver” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “very” 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.

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