Pronunciation · Academic and IELTS words

How to pronounce “sustainability”

suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee

6 syllables · stress on “BIL”

suhstaynuhBILuhtee

Britishsəˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti

Americansəˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti

In short

“sustainability” is pronounced suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee: 6 syllables, with the stress on “BIL”. The -ity suffix pulls primary stress onto the syllable immediately before it, which is a different syllable from the one stressed in sustainable. Six syllables is also a lot to keep balanced. The version to avoid is suh-STAY-nuh-bil-uh-tee — keeping the stress where sustainable has it.

Say “sustainability” in 3 steps

1Stress the fourth syllable: suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee.
2Remember the rule: -ity always stresses the syllable just before it (ability, possibility, responsibility).
3Keep the first three syllables light and quick.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: suh-STAY-nuh-bil-uh-tee — keeping the stress where sustainable has it

The -ity suffix pulls primary stress onto the syllable immediately before it, which is a different syllable from the one stressed in sustainable. Six syllables is also a lot to keep balanced.

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 “sustainability” 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.

ss as in see əa as in about (schwa)tt as in tea eɪay as in day nn as in no bb as in bed ɪi as in sit ll as in light iːee as in see

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 questionnairekwes-chuh-NAIR environmentin-VY-run-munt phenomenonfuh-NOM-ih-nun hierarchyHY-uh-rar-kee genreZHON-ruh

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce sustainability?

sustainability is pronounced suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee, written /səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti/ in IPA. Stress the fourth syllable: suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee.

How many syllables are in sustainability?

six: suh-stay-nuh-BIL-uh-tee. The stress falls on “BIL”.

What is the most common mistake with sustainability?

suh-STAY-nuh-bil-uh-tee — keeping the stress where sustainable has it. The -ity suffix pulls primary stress onto the syllable immediately before it, which is a different syllable from the one stressed in sustainable. Six syllables is also a lot to keep balanced.

The full sound library

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