Ethereal pronunciation
Ethereal has 4 syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, "thih". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Ethereal syllables
Ethereal has 4 syllables: ih-THIH-ree-uhl.
- ihɪ
- THIHθɪ
- reeri
- uhləl
Ih-THEER-ee-ul, four syllables, stress on "theer". The "th" is soft as in "thin", and the second syllable rhymes with "here".
Sounds to watch
The th sound
Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth and let air pass over it. Do not swap it for a t, d, s, or z sound.
The r sound
Pull the tongue back and up without touching the roof of the mouth. American r is never rolled or tapped.
The l sound
Touch the tongue tip to the ridge behind your top teeth. At the end of a syllable the l is darker and the back of the tongue rises.
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Ethereal in a sentence
- The singer has an ethereal voice that seems to float above the band.
- Morning mist gave the valley an ethereal look.
Read either sentence into the recorder above. The check judges only the target word, so the rest of the sentence can be rough.
What Speakeroo listens for
These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.
- Voiceless th /θ/ replacedPlace the tongue lightly between the teeth and release air without voicing.
- /t/ or /d/ used for thKeep a narrow airflow gap instead of fully blocking the air.
- Stress placed on the wrong syllableMake the correct syllable longer, clearer and more prominent.
- /r/ and /l/ confusedTouch the ridge behind the teeth for /l/ but avoid tongue contact for /r/.
- Final /l/ unclearKeep tongue-tip contact while raising the back of the tongue for a clear final /l/.
Questions
How do you pronounce ethereal?
Ethereal is pronounced /ɪ.ˈθɪ.ri.əl/, or ih-THIH-ree-uhl in plain letters. It has 4 syllables and the stress falls on the second syllable, "thih".
How many syllables are in ethereal?
4: ih-THIH-ree-uhl. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use ethereal in a sentence?
The singer has an ethereal voice that seems to float above the band. Morning mist gave the valley an ethereal look.
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