How to pronounce different

The trap

In everyday speech, different has two syllables: the middle e disappears. DIF-er-unt is correct in careful speech, but it sounds slow in conversation.

Tip. Say “dif”, then “runt”, with the f running into the r.

More on this sound: The schwa /ə/: how to pronounce the most common sound in English

Say it in a sentence

1. That is a different story. Practice
2. We have very different ideas about it. Practice

Tono scores English against the US model and colors every word, so you can see whether different landed.

More words like this: fewer syllables than they look

• comfortable /ˈkʌmftɚbəl/
• vegetable /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
• interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/
• temperature /ˈtɛmprətʃɚ/
• chocolate /ˈtʃɑːklət/
• February /ˈfɛbjuˌɛri/