How to pronounce

Opportunity pronunciation

/ˌɑ.pɚ.ˈtu.nə.ti/
ah-pur-TOO-nuh-tee

Opportunity has 5 syllables. The stress is on the third syllable, "too". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.

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Accent

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

Opportunity syllables

Opportunity has 5 syllables: ah-pur-TOO-nuh-tee.

  1. ahɑ
  2. pur
  3. TOOtu
  4. nuh
  5. teeti

Op-ur-TOO-nih-tee, five syllables, main stress on "too". The second syllable is a weak "ur" — it is easy to squeeze it out and say "op-TOO-nih-tee", which sounds rushed.

Sounds to watch

Weak syllables

The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.

The er vowel

American er (as in her) is a single vowel with the tongue bunched back. Keep the r quality through the whole vowel.

Opportunity in a sentence

  • The job was an opportunity she could not turn down.
  • Every setback is an opportunity, or so the poster says.

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.
  • Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
  • Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.

Questions

How do you pronounce opportunity?

Opportunity is pronounced /ˌɑ.pɚ.ˈtu.nə.ti/, or ah-pur-TOO-nuh-tee in plain letters. It has 5 syllables and the stress falls on the third syllable, "too".

How many syllables are in opportunity?

5: ah-pur-TOO-nuh-tee. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.

How do you use opportunity in a sentence?

The job was an opportunity she could not turn down. Every setback is an opportunity, or so the poster says.

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