Pronunciation · Words with fewer syllables than they look

How to pronounce “laboratory”

luh-BO-ruh-tree

4 syllables · stress on “BO”

luhBOruhtree

Britishləˈbɒrətri

Americanˈlæbrətɔːri

In short

“laboratory” is pronounced luh-BO-ruh-tree: 4 syllables, with the stress on “BO”. This is the clearest stress split between the two main accents: British stresses the second syllable, American the first. Neither has five full syllables. The version to avoid is LAB-or-a-tor-ee — five syllables, or British stress placed on the first syllable.

Say “laboratory” in 3 steps

1British model: luh-BO-ruh-tree, stress on syllable two.
2American model: LAB-ruh-tor-ee, stress on syllable one.
3Choose one and stay with it. Mixing them mid-sentence is what sounds odd.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: LAB-or-a-tor-ee — five syllables, or British stress placed on the first syllable

This is the clearest stress split between the two main accents: British stresses the second syllable, American the first. Neither has five full syllables.

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

3 human recordings

Actual people saying “laboratory”, not a synthetic voice. Real speech varies — that variation is what you need to recognise, and what a single model voice cannot show you.

Recordings from Wikimedia Commons by Wikimedia Commons contributor, Gbeebani and No machine-readable author provided. Tomhannen assumed (based on copyright claims)., licensed under Public domain / CC BY-SA 3.0. Full credits.

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

British luh-BO-ruh-tree stresses syllable two; American LAB-ruh-tor-ee stresses syllable one. The gap is unusually large for a common word.

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.

ll as in light əa as in about (schwa)bb as in bed ɒo as in hot rr as in red tt as in tea 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 laboratory?

laboratory is pronounced luh-BO-ruh-tree, written /ləˈbɒrətri/ in IPA. British model: luh-BO-ruh-tree, stress on syllable two.

How many syllables are in laboratory?

four: luh-BO-ruh-tree. The stress falls on “BO”.

What is the most common mistake with laboratory?

LAB-or-a-tor-ee — five syllables, or British stress placed on the first syllable. This is the clearest stress split between the two main accents: British stresses the second syllable, American the first. Neither has five full syllables.

Is laboratory pronounced differently in British and American English?

British luh-BO-ruh-tree stresses syllable two; American LAB-ruh-tor-ee stresses syllable one. The gap is unusually large for a common word. IELTS accepts either accent, so choose one model and stay consistent.

The full sound library

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