Pronunciation · Words with fewer syllables than they look

How to pronounce “secretary”

SEK-ruh-tree

3 syllables · stress on “SEK”

SEKruhtree

Britishˈsekrətri

Americanˈsekrəteri

In short

“secretary” is pronounced SEK-ruh-tree: 3 syllables, with the stress on “SEK”. British English compresses the ending to a single “tree” while American English keeps four syllables. Both stress the first syllable, which is the part learners most often get wrong. The version to avoid is sek-re-TA-ree — four syllables with middle stress.

Say “secretary” in 3 steps

1British model: three syllables, SEK-ruh-tree.
2Stress the first syllable in both accents.
3Never stress the “ta” — that is the most audible error.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: sek-re-TA-ree — four syllables with middle stress

British English compresses the ending to a single “tree” while American English keeps four syllables. Both stress the first syllable, which is the part learners most often get wrong.

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

1 human recording

Actual people saying “secretary”, 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.

British vs American

British SEK-ruh-tree has three syllables; American SEK-ruh-ter-ee has four. Both stress syllable one.

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.

ss as in see ee as in bed kk as in key rr as in red əa as in about (schwa)tt as in tea iːee as in see

More words with fewer syllables than they look

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

comfortableKUMF-tuh-bul vegetableVEJ-tuh-bul chocolateCHOK-lut interestingIN-truh-sting temperatureTEM-pruh-chuh restaurantRES-tront

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce secretary?

secretary is pronounced SEK-ruh-tree, written /ˈsekrətri/ in IPA. British model: three syllables, SEK-ruh-tree.

How many syllables are in secretary?

three: SEK-ruh-tree. The stress falls on “SEK”.

What is the most common mistake with secretary?

sek-re-TA-ree — four syllables with middle stress. British English compresses the ending to a single “tree” while American English keeps four syllables. Both stress the first syllable, which is the part learners most often get wrong.

Is secretary pronounced differently in British and American English?

British SEK-ruh-tree has three syllables; American SEK-ruh-ter-ee has four. Both stress syllable one. IELTS accepts either accent, so choose one model and stay consistent.

The full sound library

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