How to Pronounce PROBABLY

Video Transcript:

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over the pronunciation of the word ‘probably’.

This week’s Word of the Week is ‘probably’.   ‘Probably’ is a three-syllable word, but some people will reduce it to two syllables.  The first syllable is stressed.  We begin with the PR consonant cluster, pr-, pr-.  So the lips are together for the P, but the tongue can already be in position for the R.  Pr-, pr-, pro.  The first vowel is the AH as in FATHER sound.  The jaw does need to drop for that:  pro-, pro-.  The second syllable, unstressed, proba-, -ba-, is the B consonant, where the lips come together, and the schwa sound.  Proba-, proba-.  And the last syllable, the B consonant, and then the LY ending.  Proba-bly, -bly.  So the lips come together for the B, and the tongue tip comes up here for the L, -bl-, -bl-.  And then we have the EE as in SHE vowel.  Probably, probably.

As I said, some people will reduce this to two syllables, so you might here pro-bly, -bly, without the middle syllable.  Prob-ly, prob-ly.  And sometimes you’ll hear it without the B at all:  ‘prolly’, ‘prolly’, ‘prolly’.  Both of these reductions are used a lot.

For example:  prob-ly:  I’ll probably be there.  Prob-ly, prob-ly.

Or, ‘prolly’, ‘prolly’.  I’ll probably forget.  ‘Prolly’, ‘prolly’.

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.