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    Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

    How to pronounce “permit”

    PUR-mit

    2 syllables · stress on “PUR”

    PURmit
    Britishˈpɜːmɪt
    Americanˈpɜːrmɪt

    In short

    “permit” is pronounced PUR-mit: 2 syllables, with the stress on “PUR”. Both forms are common and the meanings are closely related, so context does not disambiguate them the way it does for object or contract. Stress carries the whole load. The version to avoid is pur-MIT for the document.

    Say “permit” in 3 steps

    1. 1Noun (a document): PUR-mit.
    2. 2Verb (to allow): pur-MIT.
    3. 3In the noun, the second syllable reduces; in the verb it takes a clear short /ɪ/.

    The version to avoid

    Commonly said as: pur-MIT for the document

    Both forms are common and the meanings are closely related, so context does not disambiguate them the way it does for object or contract. Stress carries the whole load.

    “permit” as a verb

    Used when permit means to allow.

    pur-MIT

    pəˈmɪt · stress on “MIT”

    purMIT

    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 “permit”, 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

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    0/6 practised

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    Three speakers per accent

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    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.

    pp as in penɜːer as in birdmm as in manɪi as in sittt 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-untrecordREK-ordobjectOB-jiktsubjectSUB-jiktprojectPROJ-ektcontractKON-trakt

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    Frequently asked questions

    How do you pronounce permit?
    permit is pronounced PUR-mit, written /ˈpɜːmɪt/ in IPA. Noun (a document): PUR-mit.
    How many syllables are in permit?
    two: PUR-mit. The stress falls on “PUR”.
    What is the most common mistake with permit?
    pur-MIT for the document. Both forms are common and the meanings are closely related, so context does not disambiguate them the way it does for object or contract. Stress carries the whole load.
    Does permit change as a verb?
    Yes. Used when permit means to allow. That form is pronounced pur-MIT, /pəˈmɪt/ in IPA.

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