Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

How to pronounce “record”

REK-ord

2 syllables · stress on “REK”

REKord

Britishˈrekɔːd

Americanˈrekərd

In short

“record” is pronounced REK-ord: 2 syllables, with the stress on “REK”. Both forms are extremely common in everyday speech, and the vowel changes as well as the stress: the noun's second vowel is full, the verb's first vowel is reduced. The version to avoid is ri-KORD for the noun, so “a world record” sounds like an instruction.

Say “record” in 3 steps

1Noun: REK-ord — a record, a recording, a personal best.
2Verb: ri-KORD — to record something. The first syllable reduces almost to nothing.
3Practise the contrast directly: “I want to ri-KORD a new REK-ord.”

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: ri-KORD for the noun, so “a world record” sounds like an instruction

Both forms are extremely common in everyday speech, and the vowel changes as well as the stress: the noun's second vowel is full, the verb's first vowel is reduced.

“record” as a verb

Used when record means to capture sound, video or information.

ri-KORD

rɪˈkɔːd · stress on “KORD”

riKORD

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 “record” 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

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.

rr as in red ee as in bed kk as in key ɔːaw as in law dd as in day

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 objectOB-jikt subjectSUB-jikt projectPROJ-ekt contractKON-trakt increaseIN-krees

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce record?

record is pronounced REK-ord, written /ˈrekɔːd/ in IPA. Noun: REK-ord — a record, a recording, a personal best.

How many syllables are in record?

two: REK-ord. The stress falls on “REK”.

What is the most common mistake with record?

ri-KORD for the noun, so “a world record” sounds like an instruction. Both forms are extremely common in everyday speech, and the vowel changes as well as the stress: the noun's second vowel is full, the verb's first vowel is reduced.

Does record change as a verb?

Yes. Used when record means to capture sound, video or information. That form is pronounced ri-KORD, /rɪˈkɔːd/ in IPA.

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