pronunciation

"Pronunciation" is a noun with essentially one core meaning, but it's a word that learners often find tricky — both to spell and to say! It refers to the way sounds are made when speaking a word or language.

1nounthe way a word is spoken

When you say a word out loud, the sounds you make, the stress you put on certain parts, and the rhythm you use — that is the pronunciation. Think of it as the 'sound shape' of a word. Every word has a correct pronunciation, and it can vary between accents or dialects.

everyday language, language learning · Modern, widely used

The pronunciation of 'colonel' surprises many learners because it sounds like 'kernel'.

She checked the pronunciation of the word in the dictionary before her presentation.

British and American English often differ in the pronunciation of words like 'schedule' or 'tomato'.

2nouna person's way of speaking a language

This sense is about how a particular person or group of people speaks — their accent, their habits, their style of producing sounds. You might say someone has 'good pronunciation' in a foreign language, meaning their sounds are clear and close to native speech.

language learning, education · Modern, widely used

His pronunciation improved a lot after he spent a year living abroad.

The teacher gave feedback on the students' pronunciation during the speaking exercise.

Her French pronunciation is excellent — she sounds almost like a native speaker.