Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

How to pronounce “object”

OB-jikt

2 syllables · stress on “OB”

OBjikt

Britishˈɒbdʒɪkt

Americanˈɑːbdʒɪkt

In short

“object” is pronounced OB-jikt: 2 syllables, with the stress on “OB”. The two meanings are unrelated in use — a thing versus a protest — but identical in spelling. Only the stress tells a listener which one you mean. The version to avoid is Using ob-JEKT for the noun, which makes “an object” sound like a protest.

Say “object” in 3 steps

1Noun (a thing): OB-jikt, stress first.
2Verb (to protest): ob-JEKT, stress second, with a full /e/ in the second syllable.
3The noun's second vowel is reduced; the verb's is not.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: Using ob-JEKT for the noun, which makes “an object” sound like a protest

The two meanings are unrelated in use — a thing versus a protest — but identical in spelling. Only the stress tells a listener which one you mean.

“object” as a verb

Used when object means to disagree or raise an objection.

ub-JEKT

əbˈdʒekt · stress on “JEKT”

ubJEKT

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

2 human recordings

Actual people saying “object”, 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 Dvortygirl, licensed under 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.

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.

ɒo as in hot bb as in bed dʒj as in job ɪi as in sit kk as in key tt as in tea

More words that change with stress

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

presentPREZ-unt recordREK-ord subjectSUB-jikt projectPROJ-ekt contractKON-trakt increaseIN-krees

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce object?

object is pronounced OB-jikt, written /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/ in IPA. Noun (a thing): OB-jikt, stress first.

How many syllables are in object?

two: OB-jikt. The stress falls on “OB”.

What is the most common mistake with object?

Using ob-JEKT for the noun, which makes “an object” sound like a protest. The two meanings are unrelated in use — a thing versus a protest — but identical in spelling. Only the stress tells a listener which one you mean.

Does object change as a verb?

Yes. Used when object means to disagree or raise an objection. That form is pronounced ub-JEKT, /əbˈdʒekt/ in IPA.

The full sound library

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