• Gloria (Ms. A)
• Words of the Week

Pronunciation

“Celebrate” is said in three sounds, or syllables, with stress at the front of the word (SEL- uh – brayt).

Explanation

In American English, there are 5 vowels (A, E, I, O, and U), though “Y” is sometimes used as a vowel, too. When the letter “C” (which normally makes a “k” sound as in “cat“) is combined with some of these vowels, it can change to an “s” sound.

Pronunciation Examples

Look at how the following words are spelled and pay attention to how they’re pronounced:

• face (FAY- ss)
• vacancy (VAY – kan – see)
• celery (SEL- uh – ree)
• receive (REE- seev)
• precise (pree -SIIS)

So that explains the first syllable, combined with the letter “l” sound (made with the tongue between the teeth) to make “SEL“.

The Second Syllable: “uh”

Now, the next syllable “uh” as in the short ‘u’ sound in “up” or “umbrella” is very unique to native American English speakers, so it may take some practice if your native language does not normally use this sound. Americans use this “uh” sound for nearly all short vowels as a result of common practice and flow of speech.

Pay attention to the following examples:

• American (UH- mehr- i- kan)
• color (KUH- lerr)
• above (UH- buhv)
• the (thUH)
• favorite (FAYV- uh – rit)

The more you listen to/use American English, the more you will start to notice and become familiar with this sound.

Finally, the last syllable of today’s Word of the Week- (brayt), is made possible by the double-vowel silent “e” rule.

This rule states:

If the letter “e” is used immediately following another vowel or vowel+consonant combination, the sound of the first vowel may change from short to long, and we do not pronounce the second vowel “e”.

Remember to still pronounce the consonant, in this case “t” (no tongue, teeth together).

Take a look at the following examples using the silent letter “e” and listen to how it changes the pronunication of the word:

• mad (MAD) vs made (MAYD)
• hat (HAT) vs hate (HAYT)
• nod (NOD) vs node (NOHD)
• cut (KUHT) vs cute (QYOOT)
• rid (RID) vs ride (RYD)

That concludes our detailed breakdown of today’s Word of the Week: “celebrate” and how to pronounce it. Hope it helps; and feel free to share what you’ve learned with your speaking partner or tutor, too! 😁