Pronunciation · Words with fewer syllables than they look

How to pronounce “jewellery”

JOO-ul-ree

3 syllables · stress on “JOO”

JOOulree

Britishˈdʒuːəlri

Americanˈdʒuːəlri

In short

“jewellery” is pronounced JOO-ul-ree: 3 syllables, with the stress on “JOO”. The spelling has an extra e that is never sounded, and the stress stays on the first syllable no matter how long the word looks. The version to avoid is joo-uh-LER-ee — four syllables with stress on the third.

Say “jewellery” in 3 steps

1Three syllables: JOO-ul-ree.
2Stress the first syllable.
3American spelling drops a letter (jewelry) but the sound is the same.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: joo-uh-LER-ee — four syllables with stress on the third

The spelling has an extra e that is never sounded, and the stress stays on the first syllable no matter how long the word looks.

Hear real people say it

Model audio is consistent; real speech is not. Hearing several actual speakers is what makes a word recognisable when someone says it at full speed.

Real speakers

No free human recording of “jewellery” exists yet in the public archives we draw on, so the audio above is our model voice. It is accurate for this word — a human clip would simply add natural variation on top.

Practise it out loud

Reading about a sound does not change your mouth. Say it, hear it back, and fix one thing at a time.

Say it yourself

0/6 practised

Listen first, then record. You get feedback on the individual sounds, the stress and the rhythm — no account needed, and nothing is stored.

Three speakers per accent

Recordings are used only to generate this feedback and are not stored. Your accent is never penalised: IELTS scores intelligibility, and so do we.

British vs American

Spelled jewellery in British English and jewelry in American English. Both are pronounced JOO-ul-ree.

The sounds inside this word

Each links to a full guide with mouth position, audio and drills. If a word keeps failing, the problem is usually one of these.

dʒj as in job uːoo as in blue əa as in about (schwa)ll as in light rr as in red iːee as in see

More words with fewer syllables than they look

Same pattern, same fix. Learning them as a group is far faster than one at a time.

comfortableKUMF-tuh-bul vegetableVEJ-tuh-bul chocolateCHOK-lut interestingIN-truh-sting temperatureTEM-pruh-chuh restaurantRES-tront

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce jewellery?

jewellery is pronounced JOO-ul-ree, written /ˈdʒuːəlri/ in IPA. Three syllables: JOO-ul-ree.

How many syllables are in jewellery?

three: JOO-ul-ree. The stress falls on “JOO”.

What is the most common mistake with jewellery?

joo-uh-LER-ee — four syllables with stress on the third. The spelling has an extra e that is never sounded, and the stress stays on the first syllable no matter how long the word looks.

Is jewellery pronounced differently in British and American English?

Spelled jewellery in British English and jewelry in American English. Both are pronounced JOO-ul-ree. IELTS accepts either accent, so choose one model and stay consistent.

The full sound library

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