This word looks like it’s four syllables, but many Americans will make it three syllables instead. Let’s learn how to practice this word by breaking it down sound by sound, knowing what’s stressed and what’s not.
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Video Transcript:
In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over the pronunciation of the word ‘comfortable’.
This week’s Word of the Week is ‘comfortable’. If you look this up in a dictionary, you’re probably going to see something other than what I’m going to say now. I’m going to tell you how people say it when they speak American English. COMF-der-ble. Three syllables. Stress on the first syllable. Comf-, comf-. We begin with the K consonant sound, where the back part of the tongue will reach up here and touch the soft palate, kk, kk. Then we have the UH as in BUTTER vowel, where the tongue and lips are totally relaxed, co-. Then the M consonant, where the lips come together: com-, com-, comf-. Then we have the F consonant, so the lips will part so the bottom lip can be touching the top teeth, comf-, comf-. Then we have an unstressed syllable: the D sound, schwa/R sound, -der-, -der-. It’s going to be short, flat, low in pitch, and quiet, -der-, -der-. Comf-der-. And finally, -ble, -ble. The B consonant with the Dark L sound, -ble, -ble. Again, it’s unstressed, so it’s going to be low in pitch and flatter, -der-ble, -der-ble. COMF-der-ble. Comfortable.
To make the Dark L, pull the back part of the tongue back towards the roof of the mouth. You don’t need to worry about bringing the front part of the tongue up if you make the dark sound: ul, ul. Comfortable. Comfortable.
I hope you’re comfortable.
That’s it, your Word of the Week. Try it out yourself. Make up a sentence with the word, record it, and post it as a video response to this video on YouTube. I can’t wait to watch it.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
Hear the difference immediately.
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