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    Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

    How to pronounce “suspect”

    SUS-pekt

    2 syllables · stress on “SUS”

    SUSpekt
    Britishˈsʌspekt
    Americanˈsʌspekt

    In short

    “suspect” is pronounced SUS-pekt: 2 syllables, with the stress on “SUS”. The noun names a person and the verb describes a belief, so the meanings feel close enough that learners do not expect a sound difference. The version to avoid is suh-SPEKT for the person.

    Say “suspect” in 3 steps

    1. 1Noun (a person): SUS-pekt.
    2. 2Verb (to think something is true): suh-SPEKT.
    3. 3The adjective (“a suspect claim”) follows the noun pattern: SUS-pekt.

    The version to avoid

    Commonly said as: suh-SPEKT for the person

    The noun names a person and the verb describes a belief, so the meanings feel close enough that learners do not expect a sound difference.

    “suspect” as a verb

    Used when suspect means to believe something is probably true.

    suh-SPEKT

    səˈspekt · stress on “SPEKT”

    suhSPEKT

    Hear real people say it

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    Real speakers

    1 human recording

    Actual people saying “suspect”, 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.

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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.

    ss as in seeʌu as in cuppp as in penee 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-jiktprojectPROJ-ektcontractKON-trakt

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    Frequently asked questions

    How do you pronounce suspect?
    suspect is pronounced SUS-pekt, written /ˈsʌspekt/ in IPA. Noun (a person): SUS-pekt.
    How many syllables are in suspect?
    two: SUS-pekt. The stress falls on “SUS”.
    What is the most common mistake with suspect?
    suh-SPEKT for the person. The noun names a person and the verb describes a belief, so the meanings feel close enough that learners do not expect a sound difference.
    Does suspect change as a verb?
    Yes. Used when suspect means to believe something is probably true. That form is pronounced suh-SPEKT, /səˈspekt/ in IPA.

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