How to pronounce Telling
Telling has 2 syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, "teh". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
Say telling and check it
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Press record, say "telling" once or twice at normal speed, then stop. You will see which syllables matched and what to change.
Telling syllables
Telling has 2 syllables: TEH-lihng.
- TEHtɛ
- lihnglɪŋ
Two syllables: TEL-ing.
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.
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.
The ng sound
The ng is one nasal sound made with the back of the tongue. There is no separate hard g after it.
Telling in a sentence
- His silence was more telling than any answer.
- I am telling you this so you can plan ahead.
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.
- Final -ing pronounced unclearlyRaise the back of the tongue for /ŋ/ and avoid adding /g/ unless the word requires it.
- Final consonant omittedHold the final mouth position briefly without adding another vowel.
- /ɪ/ and /iː/ confusedMake /iː/ higher, tenser and usually longer than /ɪ/.
- Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.
Questions
How do you pronounce telling?
Telling is pronounced /ˈtɛ.lɪŋ/, or TEH-lihng in plain letters. It has 2 syllables and the stress falls on the first syllable, "teh".
How many syllables are in telling?
2: TEH-lihng. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use telling in a sentence?
His silence was more telling than any answer. I am telling you this so you can plan ahead.
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