How to pronounce

How to pronounce Explicitly

/ɪksp.ˈlɪ.sə.tli/
ihksp-LIH-suh-tlee

Explicitly has 4 syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, "lih". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.

Say explicitly and check it

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Accent

Press record, say "explicitly" once or twice at normal speed, then stop. You will see which syllables matched and what to change.

Explicitly syllables

Explicitly has 4 syllables: ihksp-LIH-suh-tlee.

  1. ihkspɪksp
  2. LIH
  3. suh
  4. tleetli

Stress "plis". The final syllable is "lee", not "lie".

Sounds to watch

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.

Short i versus ee

The short i (as in sit) is shorter and more relaxed than ee. Many learners stretch it into ee, which changes the word.

Consonant clusters

Three consonants run together with no vowel between them. Say them as one movement rather than inserting an "uh"; slowing down is fine, adding a vowel is not.

Explicitly in a sentence

  • The contract explicitly states who owns the design files.
  • Please say explicitly what you need from me before Friday.

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.

  • Stress placed on the wrong syllableMake the correct syllable longer, clearer and more prominent.
  • Consonant cluster reducedBuild the cluster one sound at a time without deleting a member.
  • Extra vowel after a consonantFinish directly on the consonant instead of adding a vowel.
  • Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
  • /ɪ/ and /iː/ confusedMake /iː/ higher, tenser and usually longer than /ɪ/.

Questions

How do you pronounce explicitly?

Explicitly is pronounced /ɪksp.ˈlɪ.sə.tli/, or ihksp-LIH-suh-tlee in plain letters. It has 4 syllables and the stress falls on the second syllable, "lih".

How many syllables are in explicitly?

4: ihksp-LIH-suh-tlee. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.

How do you use explicitly in a sentence?

The contract explicitly states who owns the design files. Please say explicitly what you need from me before Friday.

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