Hadar Shemesh breaks down the American English pronunciation of 'opportunity': ah-PER-too-nuh-dee. The primary stress lands on the second syllable, the T sounds like a D, and the schwa vowel appears twice in the word.
How to pronounce the word opportunity. You start with the ah, as in father. Drop your jaw, relax your lips. Ah. Then we have per, a p sound, a schwa, and an R. A schwa is a reduced vowel, so it feels like you're shifting from the P to the r directly. Per. Per, per. Make it short and soft. Oper 2. That's the primary stress, just like the number 2, upper 2. It's longer, louder, higher in pitch. And then we have N, an n sound, and a schwa. Nuh, nuh. Opportune. And then the T becomes a flap T in American English, and a high E. Opportunity. The opportunity feels like a D, sounds like an R, looks like a T. Opportunity. What a great opportunity.
Read Out Loud with me! Dare to Lead by Brené Brown | Pronunciation & Vocabulary practice
