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    Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

    How to pronounce “project”

    PROJ-ekt

    2 syllables · stress on “PROJ”

    PROJekt
    Britishˈprɒdʒekt
    Americanˈprɑːdʒekt

    In short

    “project” is pronounced PROJ-ekt: 2 syllables, with the stress on “PROJ”. This is one of the highest-frequency stress pairs in workplace and IELTS English, so the error is heard constantly. The noun is far more common, which makes the verb form feel unfamiliar. The version to avoid is pruh-JEKT for the noun — very common, and it makes “my project” sound like a verb phrase.

    Say “project” in 3 steps

    1. 1Noun: PROJ-ekt — a piece of work. Stress the first syllable.
    2. 2Verb: pruh-JEKT — to forecast, or to throw an image or your voice forward.
    3. 3In the noun, keep the first vowel full and round; in the verb, reduce it to a schwa.

    The version to avoid

    Commonly said as: pruh-JEKT for the noun — very common, and it makes “my project” sound like a verb phrase

    This is one of the highest-frequency stress pairs in workplace and IELTS English, so the error is heard constantly. The noun is far more common, which makes the verb form feel unfamiliar.

    “project” as a verb

    Used when project means to estimate, or to cast something forward.

    pruh-JEKT

    prəˈdʒekt · stress on “JEKT”

    pruhJEKT

    Hear real people say it

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    Real speakers

    1 human recording

    Actual people saying “project”, 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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    Say it yourself

    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 penrr as in redɒo as in hotdʒj as in jobee as in bedkk as in keytt 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-jiktcontractKON-traktincreaseIN-krees

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    Frequently asked questions

    How do you pronounce project?
    project is pronounced PROJ-ekt, written /ˈprɒdʒekt/ in IPA. Noun: PROJ-ekt — a piece of work. Stress the first syllable.
    How many syllables are in project?
    two: PROJ-ekt. The stress falls on “PROJ”.
    What is the most common mistake with project?
    pruh-JEKT for the noun — very common, and it makes “my project” sound like a verb phrase. This is one of the highest-frequency stress pairs in workplace and IELTS English, so the error is heard constantly. The noun is far more common, which makes the verb form feel unfamiliar.
    Does project change as a verb?
    Yes. Used when project means to estimate, or to cast something forward. That form is pronounced pruh-JEKT, /prəˈdʒekt/ in IPA.

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