English to IPA Converter
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Type a word or a sentence and get its phonetic transcription in the International Phonetic Alphabet, American English.
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ˈ marks the stressed syllable. Names and rare words may be missing. How -ed and -s sound
Pronunciations: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, Carnegie Mellon University. Licence
Sounds that Spanish and Portuguese speakers find hard
th: /θ/ (think) and /ð/ (this)
- think/θɪŋk/
- three/θri/
- thank/θæŋk/
- this/ðɪs/
- mother/ˈmʌðɚ/
- weather/ˈwɛðɚ/
Short /ɪ/ and long /i/
- ship/ʃɪp/
- sheep/ʃip/
- live/lɪv/
- leave/liv/
- sit/sɪt/
- seat/sit/
/æ/, /ʌ/, /ɛ/ and /ɑ/
- cat/kæt/
- cut/kʌt/
- bad/bæd/
- bed/bɛd/
- hat/hæt/
- hot/hɑt/
The schwa /ə/ in weak syllables
- about/əˈbaʊt/
- banana/bəˈnænə/
- problem/ˈprɑbləm/
- teacher/ˈtitʃɚ/
- chocolate/ˈtʃɔklət/
- comfortable/ˈkʌmfɚtəbəl/
Letters you do not say
- island/ˈaɪlənd/
- Wednesday/ˈwɛnzdi/
- answer/ˈænsɚ/
- listen/ˈlɪsən/
- vegetable/ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
- February/ˈfɛbjəˌwɛri/
The American r: /ɝ/ and /ɚ/
- bird/bɝd/
- work/wɝk/
- world/wɝld/
- word/wɝd/
- water/ˈwɔtɚ/
- girl/ɡɝl/
IPA chart for American English
Vowels
- /i/ sheep
- /ɪ/ ship
- /ɛ/ bed
- /æ/ cat
- /ɑ/ hot
- /ɔ/ law
- /ʊ/ book
- /u/ food
- /ʌ/ cup
- /ə/ about
- /ɝ/ bird
- /ɚ/ teacher
Diphthongs
- /eɪ/ day
- /aɪ/ my
- /ɔɪ/ boy
- /aʊ/ now
- /oʊ/ go
Consonants that differ from Spanish and Portuguese
- /θ/ think
- /ð/ this
- /ʃ/ she
- /ʒ/ usually
- /tʃ/ chair
- /dʒ/ job
- /ŋ/ sing
- /j/ yes
- /w/ we
- /r/ red
- /h/ hat
- /ɡ/ go
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What the IPA shows
English spelling does not tell you how a word sounds: “though”, “through” and “thought” share four letters and no vowel sound. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) writes each sound with one symbol, so /θ/ is always the th in think and /ð/ is always the th in this. Dictionaries use it, and once you know the symbols you can read the pronunciation of any word.
The stress mark ˈ comes before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔtɚ/ (water), /əˈbaʊt/ (about). The mark ˌ shows a weaker, secondary stress.
Sounds that Spanish and Portuguese do not have
The two th sounds, /θ/ and /ð/, do not exist in Portuguese and only /θ/ exists in Spain. English also separates short /ɪ/ (ship) from long /i/ (sheep), and has three vowels, /æ/ (cat), /ʌ/ (cut) and /ɑ/ (hot), where Spanish has one a. The schwa /ə/ is the most common English vowel: it is the weak sound in about, banana and problem.
To hear how -ed and -s endings sound, use the -ed pronunciation checker, and train your ear with the listening practice.
Where the transcriptions come from
The tool uses the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary from Carnegie Mellon University, which lists more than 120,000 words in American English, and turns its codes into IPA. Some words have two pronunciations, such as “read” (present and past); both are shown. Names and rare words may be missing.
Frequently asked questions
Is this British or American pronunciation?
American. The dictionary records General American English, so “water” is /ˈwɔtɚ/ with an r. British dictionaries would show /ˈwɔːtə/.
What does the symbol ə mean?
It is the schwa, a short, relaxed vowel used in weak syllables: the a in about, the e in teacher (/ˈtitʃɚ/) and the o in problem.
Why are there two transcriptions for some words?
Some words are said in two ways, either because they mean different things (read in the present and the past) or because speakers vary. The dictionary lists both.
Is the text I type sent anywhere?
No. The converter runs in your browser. It downloads small dictionary files named by the first two letters of each word, but your text is never sent or stored.