Native Phrase Lab
WillowbrookWord 219 of 545 · The stress trap
How to pronounce definitely
/ˈdefɪnətli/ British English
DEF·i·nət·lee
4 beats (syllables). The strong beat is the first one.
a Coloured letters don’t sound the way they look.
✗ Many people say
de·fi·NITE·ly
✓ Say
DEF·i·nət·lee
My tip
Stress the start, and nite is just nət.
In a sentence
I’ll definitely be there.
Now you say it
- Listen to me two or three times.
- Say it slowly, one beat at a time: DEF-i-nət-lee.
- Say the sentence at normal speed.
Questions
How do you pronounce definitely?
In British English, definitely is pronounced /ˈdefɪnətli/. Say it like this: DEF-i-nət-lee. Stress the start, and nite is just nət.
How many syllables are in definitely?
When you say it, definitely has 4 syllables: DEF-i-nət-lee. The strong beat is the first one, DEF.
More words like this: the stress trap
Practise these sounds
- The schwa, /ə/The small, weak sound in this word. It’s one of the 4 sounds you can practise completely free in my Sound Atlas.
- The strong beat: /e/ as in “bed”Meet this sound and hear it in my Sound Atlas. Free.
- The Sound MapAll 44 sounds of British English, in my voice. Free.
- Pitch Perfect: the Word stress setHear me say it, record yourself, and see your sound under mine. A premium game.
- More gamesFive of my English games are free to play.