How to read IPA: the pronunciation symbols for English

Where you will see it

Dictionaries print IPA between slashes after a word: market /ˈmɑɹkət/. In a lesson here, the IPA button under the sentence adds a line of symbols below each word, and the word card shows the same pronunciation.

The pronunciations on this site are General American. A British dictionary will show some words differently, mainly the vowels and the "r" after a vowel.

Consonants that look like themselves

These mean what you expect: /p b t d k ɡ f v s z h m n l w/. Two need a note: /j/ is the "y" sound in "yes", never the "j" of "jam"; and /ɹ/ is the ordinary English "r" in "red". Many dictionaries simply print /r/.

Consonants with new symbols

• /θ/ think, bath: tongue between the teeth, no voice.
• /ð/ this, mother: the same position, with voice.
• /ʃ/ she, nation.
• /ʒ/ vision, usually.
• /tʃ/ chair, watch.
• /dʒ/ job, age.
• /ŋ/ sing, think: the "ng" sound, made at the back of the mouth.

Short vowels

• /ɪ/ sit, busy.
• /ɛ/ bed, said.
• /æ/ cat, laugh.
• /ʌ/ cup, money.
• /ʊ/ book, could.
• /ɑ/ father, hot.
• /ɔ/ law, walk. Many Americans pronounce this the same as /ɑ/.
• /ə/ about, sofa: the schwa, a short, relaxed "uh". It is the most common vowel in English and appears only in weak syllables.

Long vowels and glides

• /i/ see, eat. British dictionaries write /iː/; the colon-like mark means "long".
• /u/ blue, food.
• /eɪ/ day, great.
• /aɪ/ my, time.
• /ɔɪ/ boy, coin.
• /oʊ/ go, home.
• /aʊ/ now, house.

The two-letter vowels are glides: the mouth starts at the first symbol and moves towards the second.

Vowels with r

• /ɝ/ bird, work, learn: a vowel and an "r" said as one sound, in a stressed syllable.
• /ɚ/ teacher, after: the same sound, weak and short.
• Otherwise the "r" is written after the vowel: /ɑɹ/ car, /ɔɹ/ four, /ɪɹ/ or /iɹ/ here, /ɛɹ/ air.

Stress marks

The small raised mark /ˈ/ comes before the syllable with the main stress: about /əˈbaʊt/, market /ˈmɑɹkət/, banana /bəˈnænə/. A lowered mark /ˌ/ shows a lighter, secondary stress in longer words: grandmother /ˈɡɹændˌmʌðɚ/.

Stress matters more than any single sound. A word with the right vowels and the stress in the wrong place is harder to understand than the reverse. It also changes meaning: REcord /ˈɹɛkɚd/ is a noun, reCORD /ɹɪˈkɔɹd/ is a verb.

Using IPA when you practise

• Find the stress mark first and make that syllable longer and stronger.
• Look for /ə/. Wherever it appears, the vowel should be quick and relaxed, whatever the spelling says.
• Compare pairs you confuse, such as ship /ʃɪp/ and sheep /ʃip/, or bad /bæd/ and bed /bɛd/. Seeing two different symbols tells you there are two sounds to learn.
• Use it to check silent letters: walk /wɔk/, island /ˈaɪlənd/.
• Then trust your ears. Turn the IPA line off again once you can say the word.

What IPA cannot tell you

A dictionary gives each word as it sounds alone, said carefully. In a sentence, words change: "and" /ænd/ shrinks to /ən/, "to" /tu/ becomes /tə/, and sounds at word edges join or disappear. The IPA line shows the dictionary form, so use it for the difficult words and listen to the speaker for the rest.

You do not have to memorise the table. Learn the handful of symbols for the sounds your own language lacks, and look the others up when you need them.