Pronunciation · Academic and IELTS words

How to pronounce “vulnerable”

VUL-nuh-ruh-bul

4 syllables · stress on “VUL”

VULnuhruhbul

Britishˈvʌlnərəbl

Americanˈvʌlnərəbl

In short

“vulnerable” is pronounced VUL-nuh-ruh-bul: 4 syllables, with the stress on “VUL”. The /ln/ cluster in the middle is awkward, so many speakers delete the l. Stress also belongs firmly on the first syllable despite the word's length. The version to avoid is VUN-ruh-bul — dropping the l, or vul-NER-uh-bul with middle stress.

Say “vulnerable” in 3 steps

1Stress the first syllable: VUL-nuh-ruh-bul.
2Pronounce the l — “vul”, not “vun”.
3The three syllables after the stress are all weak and quick.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: VUN-ruh-bul — dropping the l, or vul-NER-uh-bul with middle stress

The /ln/ cluster in the middle is awkward, so many speakers delete the l. Stress also belongs firmly on the first syllable despite the word's length.

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 “vulnerable” 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

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.

vv as in very ʌu as in cup ll as in light nn as in no əa as in about (schwa)rr as in red bb as in bed

Don't confuse it with…

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

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 vulnerable?

vulnerable is pronounced VUL-nuh-ruh-bul, written /ˈvʌlnərəbl/ in IPA. Stress the first syllable: VUL-nuh-ruh-bul.

How many syllables are in vulnerable?

four: VUL-nuh-ruh-bul. The stress falls on “VUL”.

What is the most common mistake with vulnerable?

VUN-ruh-bul — dropping the l, or vul-NER-uh-bul with middle stress. The /ln/ cluster in the middle is awkward, so many speakers delete the l. Stress also belongs firmly on the first syllable despite the word's length.

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