How to pronounce "military" in English
ˈmɪl.ɪ.tər.i
MIL·ih·tər·ee
Primary stress: MIL
Hear native speakers say military in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “military”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
MIL
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
ih
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
tər
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
ee
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
Primary emphasis falls on the first syllable ("MIL"). 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 "military" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "military is" sounds like "military-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "military" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“military did not fully know how much President Trump went up against the weight of history.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“military would not support and fight for him and the Russians proved that they couldn't support him in a significant”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“military has strongly condemned uh these actions.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“military leaders had said the 11-day event would be similar in scale to previous years with about 18, 000 South”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“military action against a sovereign country, it opens the door for all sorts of other countries to just unilaterally”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“military exercise. Ulchi is actually the civilian part where the government civil servants, they prepare for any kind of”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “military”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
military did not fully know how much President Trump went up against the weight of history.
Hear it in context: “military”
70,977 clipsThe English word “military” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as ˈmɪl.ɪ.tər.i (phonetic respelling: MIL-ih-tər-ee). Phonologically, it consists of 4 syllables (MIL · ih · tər · ee), with primary lexical stress placed on the 1st (initial) syllable (MIL). Grammatically, “military” functions as a adjective, noun. SayItVid indexes 70,977 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “military” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USClip #1 · @4:07
“that before. Many people even in the military did not fully know how much President Trump went up against the weight of history. Then we shifted. We President Trump went up against the”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #2 · @32:11
“overthrown by his own people and his own military would not support and fight for him and the Russians proved that they couldn't support him in a significant him and the Russians proved that they”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #3 · @10:56
“senior leadership of the Israeli military has strongly condemned uh these actions. They seem to be saying, "Look, these are a few bad apples. It's these actions. They seem to be saying,”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @1:03
“Korea. Previously, US and South Korean military leaders had said the 11-day event would be similar in scale to previous years with about 18, 000 South event would be similar in scale to”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @29:02
“that we have essentially taken this military action against a sovereign country, it opens the door for all sorts of other countries to just unilaterally country, it opens the door for all sorts”
Definition & Meaning: “military”
- Characteristic of members of the armed forces.
- Relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force (often as distinguished from civilians or police forces).
- Armed forces.
Example Sentences (3)
- “She was dishonorably discharged from all military duties.”
- “If you join a military force, you may end up killing people.”
- “military did not fully know how much President Trump went up against the weight of history. Then we shifted. We”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “military”
- Pronunciation:
- MIL-ih-tər-ee
- Syllables:
- MIL · ih · tər · ee
- Written Hyphenation:
- mil · i · tar · y
- Primary stress:
- MIL
- IPA:
- ˈmɪl.ɪ.tər.i
- Hear it in context
- military
Synonyms: “military”
Hear words related in meaning to “military” in real video clips:
Words that Rhyme with “military”
-ɪlɪtəriWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"military" (⁄ˈmɪl.ɪ.tər.i⁄) 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, "military" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about military
How do you pronounce “military”?
“military” is pronounced ⁄ˈmɪl.ɪ.tər.i⁄ (MIL-ih-tər-ee). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “military”?
“military” has 4 syllables: MIL · ih · tər · ee.
Where is the stress in “military”?
The primary stress in “military” is on “MIL”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “military” mean?
Characteristic of members of the armed forces.
How can I hear “military” used in real sentences?
This page has 70977 real-world video examples of “military” 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 “military”?
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].