Pronunciation · Academic and IELTS words

How to pronounce “questionnaire”

kwes-chuh-NAIR

3 syllables · stress on “NAIR”

kweschuhNAIR

Britishˌkwestʃəˈneə

Americanˌkwestʃəˈner

In short

“questionnaire” is pronounced kwes-chuh-NAIR: 3 syllables, with the stress on “NAIR”. The stress sits on the last syllable, unlike the related word question. The -tion- also becomes /tʃə/, not “shun” or “ti-on”. The version to avoid is KWES-tion-air — stressing the first syllable and sounding “tion” as “ti-on”.

Say “questionnaire” in 3 steps

1Stress the last syllable: kwes-chuh-NAIR.
2The middle is “chuh”, borrowed straight from the word question.
3The ending rhymes with “air”.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: KWES-tion-air — stressing the first syllable and sounding “tion” as “ti-on”

The stress sits on the last syllable, unlike the related word question. The -tion- also becomes /tʃə/, not “shun” or “ti-on”.

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 “questionnaire” 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

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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.

kk as in key ww as in we ee as in bed ss as in see tʃch as in chair əa as in about (schwa)nn as in no eəair as in hair

Don't confuse it with…

Minimal pairs isolate the exact contrast this word depends on — the fastest way to train both ear and mouth.

/tʃ/ vs /ʃ/: chair vs share

More academic and ielts words

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

entrepreneuron-truh-pruh-NUR environmentin-VY-run-munt phenomenonfuh-NOM-ih-nun hierarchyHY-uh-rar-kee genreZHON-ruh hypothesishy-POTH-uh-sis

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce questionnaire?

questionnaire is pronounced kwes-chuh-NAIR, written /ˌkwestʃəˈneə/ in IPA. Stress the last syllable: kwes-chuh-NAIR.

How many syllables are in questionnaire?

three: kwes-chuh-NAIR. The stress falls on “NAIR”.

What is the most common mistake with questionnaire?

KWES-tion-air — stressing the first syllable and sounding “tion” as “ti-on”. The stress sits on the last syllable, unlike the related word question. The -tion- also becomes /tʃə/, not “shun” or “ti-on”.

The full sound library

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