How to Read IPA: The Phonetic Alphabet Made Simple
A plain-English guide to the IPA symbols used in dictionaries — what each one sounds like, with a word you already know for every symbol.
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a set of symbols where each symbol represents exactly one sound. Unlike English spelling — where ough can be said six different ways — IPA is unambiguous. Once you can read it, any dictionary entry tells you precisely how a word is pronounced, with no guessing.
Why bother learning IPA?
- English spelling lies. Though, through, tough, thought, thorough, plough all contain “ough” and all sound different.
- It makes dictionaries usable. Every serious dictionary uses IPA.
- It shows you sounds your language may not have — so you can spot exactly what to practise.
You don't need to memorise all of it. Learning the ~20 vowels and the 8 tricky consonants below covers almost everything.
Reading the extra marks
- / / or [ ] — the brackets mean “this is a transcription”.
- ː (a colon-like mark) — the vowel is long. /iː/ in sheep is longer than /ɪ/ in ship.
- ˈ (a raised tick) — the next syllable is stressed: /ˈfoʊ.tə.ɡræf/ = PHO-to-graph. See word stress.
- ˌ (a low tick) — secondary (lighter) stress.
- . — a syllable break.
The English vowels
Every symbol with a word you already know. Tap the word to hear the sound.
| IPA | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| /iː/ | as in sheep |
| /ɪ/ | as in ship |
| /e/ | as in bed |
| /æ/ | as in cat |
| /ɑː/ | as in father |
| /ɒ/ | as in hot |
| /ɔː/ | as in thought |
| /ʊ/ | as in book |
| /uː/ | as in food |
| /ʌ/ | as in cup |
| /ɜː/ | as in bird |
| /ə/ | as in about |
Note /ə/ — the schwa — is the most common vowel in English and appears in nearly every multi-syllable word.
The consonants that don't look like letters
Most IPA consonants match the English letter (/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /h/). These are the eight that surprise people:
| IPA | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| /θ/ | as in think |
| /ð/ | as in this |
| /ʃ/ | as in she |
| /ʒ/ | as in measure |
| /tʃ/ | as in chair |
| /dʒ/ | as in judge |
| /ŋ/ | as in sing |
| /j/ | as in yes |
Worked example
Take pronunciation → /prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
- prə — the first syllable is a schwa, not “pro”
- ˌnʌn — “nun”, not “noun” (the classic mistake)
- ˈeɪ — the raised tick marks the main stress here: -AY-
- ʃən — “shun”
US vs UK transcriptions differ
Dictionaries show different IPA for each accent — American car is /kɑːr/ (with the r) while British is /kɑː/ (no r). PronounceIt shows both US and UK IPA on every word page, so you can compare directly. For more, read American vs British pronunciation.
Start practising
Browse all 44 English sounds with audio and mouth diagrams, or look up any word on the pronunciation tool to see its IPA alongside a plain-English respelling.
Sources & further reading
- International Phonetic Association — the official IPA chart — the authoritative source for every symbol and its official value
- Cambridge Dictionary — pronunciation entries — shows both UK and US IPA for each headword
- Merriam-Webster — guide to pronunciation — explains the respelling system used in American dictionaries