How to pronounce "incompetent" in English
ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt
in·KOM·pih·tənt
Primary stress: KOM
Hear native speakers say incompetent in context across real video clips
is a skull of an 'Alala--the crows had been encountering incompetent people. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that competent people are in short supply. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “incompetent”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
in
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
KOM
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
pih
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
tənt
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
Primary emphasis falls on the second syllable ("KOM"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Pronouncing a hard, aspirated [tʰ] in casual conversation can sound overly formal in North America.
How Native Speakers Say It: In American English, a single "t" between vowels quickly taps against the alveolar ridge like a soft "d" ([ɾ]). In British English, maintain a crisp aspirated [tʰ].
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "incompetent" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "incompetent is" sounds like "incompetent-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "incompetent" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“incompetent people. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that competent people are in short supply.”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“incompetent and this is post Katrina post Dubai but mostly Iraq so going into the midterm election the president is”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“incompetent we've never run into that we're not ready to hand a whole bunch of assets over to these kids”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“incompetent or being malevolent in the wrong hand synthetic biology to me has a much much greater odds has much”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“incompetent welcome to the day uh we start here in Berlin where thousands of tractors and trucks have converged on”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“incompetent in its in its work accused the president of nepotism appointing his own cronies into government including his”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “incompetent”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
incompetent people. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that competent people are in short supply.
Hear it in context: “incompetent”
762 clipsThe English word “incompetent” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt (phonetic respelling: in-KOM-pih-tənt). Phonologically, it consists of 4 syllables (in · KOM · pih · tənt), with primary lexical stress placed on the 2nd syllable (KOM). Grammatically, “incompetent” functions as a adjective, noun. SayItVid indexes 762 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “incompetent” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from YaleCourses.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #1 · @35:07
“is a skull of an 'Alala--the crows had been encountering incompetent people. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that competent people are in short supply. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #2 · @18:18
“bush one of the words that comes back is incompetent and this is post Katrina post Dubai but mostly Iraq so going into the midterm election the president is post Dubai but mostly Iraq so going into”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #3 · @29:38
“what if the children are young or older but still financially incompetent we've never run into that we're not ready to hand a whole bunch of assets over to these kids we're not ready to hand a whole bunch of assets over to these kids”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @20:51
“but in the wrong hands those hands either being incompetent or being malevolent in the wrong hand synthetic biology to me has a much much greater odds has much me has a much much greater odds has much”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @0:26
“needs to resign and order new elections because they're incompetent welcome to the day uh we start here in Berlin where thousands of tractors and trucks have converged on start here in Berlin where thousands of tractors and trucks have converged on”
Definition & Meaning: “incompetent”
- Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
- Unable to make rational decisions; insane or otherwise cognitively impaired.
- A person who is incompetent.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Near-synonyms: incapable, inable, unable”
- “The charged was judged incompetent to stand trial, at least until his medication started working.”
- “incompetent people. And the take-home from that particular chapter is that competent people are in short supply.”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “incompetent”
- Pronunciation:
- in-KOM-pih-tənt
- Syllables:
- in · KOM · pih · tənt
- Written Hyphenation:
- in · com · pe · tent
- Primary stress:
- KOM
- IPA:
- ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt
- Hear it in context
- incompetent
Synonyms: “incompetent”
Hear words related in meaning to “incompetent” in real video clips:
Words that Rhyme with “incompetent”
-ɒmpɪtəntWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"incompetent" (⁄ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt⁄) has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "incompetent" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about incompetent
How do you pronounce “incompetent”?
“incompetent” is pronounced ⁄ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt⁄ (in-KOM-pih-tənt). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “incompetent”?
“incompetent” has 4 syllables: in · KOM · pih · tənt.
Where is the stress in “incompetent”?
The primary stress in “incompetent” is on “KOM”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “incompetent” mean?
Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
How can I hear “incompetent” used in real sentences?
This page has 762 real-world video examples of “incompetent” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “incompetent”?
Pronouncing a hard, aspirated [tʰ] in casual conversation can sound overly formal in North America. In American English, a single "t" between vowels quickly taps against the alveolar ridge like a soft "d" ([ɾ]). In British English, maintain a crisp aspirated [tʰ].