PHONETICS
IPA Transcriber
Type any English word or short phrase to see its IPA transcription. Press ▶ to hear native pronunciation.
What is IPA?
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized notation system that represents the sounds of spoken language. Each symbol corresponds to a single, consistent sound — unlike English spelling, which is famously inconsistent.
For example, the word pronunciation is transcribed as /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃən/ — which makes its sound structure immediately clear, regardless of how confusing the spelling might be.
IPA is used by linguists, language teachers, dictionary editors, speech therapists, and actors. For English learners, understanding IPA means you can look up any word in a dictionary and know exactly how to say it.
Common IPA symbols in American English
/æ/cat, trap, bad
/ə/about, sofa (schwa)
/ɪ/kit, bit, sit
/iː/fleece, see, heat
/ʌ/strut, cup, run
/ʊ/foot, put, look
/uː/goose, blue, food
/ɑː/palm, start, lot
/ɔː/thought, north, law
/aɪ/price, fly, time
/aʊ/mouth, now, out
/oʊ/goat, go, know