Although it’s a content word, it’s often reduced. Practice it by analyzing its sounds and stress, then feel confident using it in American English conversation.
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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.