Pronunciation

How to pronounce “whereby

“whereby” is pronounced /wɛɹˈbaɪ/ (wair-BY) in American English and /weəˈbaɪ/ in British English, and /hwɛɹˈbaɪ/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “baɪ”.
The sound

Say “whereby” in 2 beats

Say it like this

whereby

/wɛɹˈbaɪ/

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

2 beats
  1. wɛɹwɛɹ
  2. baɪbaɪstress
IPA (American)
/wɛɹˈbaɪ/
IPA (British)
/weəˈbaɪ/
Also accepted
/hwɛɹˈbaɪ/
Respelling
wair-BY
Syllables
2 — wɛɹ-BAꞮ
Stress
Stress the second syllable: wɛɹ-BAꞮ. “baɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adverb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/wɛɹˈbaɪ/

British

/weəˈbaɪ/

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

Watch out

Where “whereby” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    WAIR-by

    the stress is on BY, the second syllable

Meaning

What “whereby” means

  1. adverb

    by which, or through which

Say it in a sentence

They agreed a system whereby each team reviews the other.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

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

Questions

whereby”, answered

How do you pronounce “whereby”?

“whereby” is pronounced /wɛɹˈbaɪ/ (wair-BY) in American English and /weəˈbaɪ/ in British English, and /hwɛɹˈbaɪ/ is also accepted — 2 syllables, stressed on “baɪ”. Build it as wɛɹ-BAꞮ, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “whereby” have?

2: wɛɹ · baɪ. The beat lands on the second, “baɪ”.

Is “whereby” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /wɛɹˈbaɪ/ (wair-BY); British English says /weəˈbaɪ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “whereby” mean?

As an adverb: by which, or through which For example: “They agreed a system whereby each team reviews the other.”

Where is the stress in “whereby”?

Stress the second syllable: wɛɹ-BAꞮ. “baɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “whereby” 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.