How to pronounce "surmises" in English
sərˈmaɪ.zɪz
sər·MY·ziz
Primary stress: MY
Hear native speakers say surmises in context across real video clips
at this time it's hard to read that but it's obviously it's a matter of convention or hear the listener merely surmises the composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “surmises”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
sər
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
MY
Gliding diphthong with sustained vocal resonance.
ziz
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
Primary emphasis falls on the second syllable ("MY"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "surmises" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "surmises is" sounds like "surmises-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "surmises" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“convention or hear the listener merely surmises the composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical”— MIT OpenCourseWareWatch clip
“And there was a lot of surmises that actually she was passing all those years when she disappeared.”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“idea out here for you so if we talk about effectiveness rather than a quality here's one of the surmises of the theories that I want to put on the”— StanfordWatch clip
“Ministry surmises has led to North Korean troops being ready to fight in Ukraine Tran meanwhile has provided drones by the thousands to Russia plus”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“by those two attributes, what kind of clothes they wear and our surmises as to what kind of occupations they have.”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“At the end of his story he's sort of whisked away, one of the king's servants surmises, by the wind of God.”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
Practice Speaking “surmises”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
convention or hear the listener merely surmises the composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical
Hear it in context: “surmises”
6 clipsThe English word “surmises” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as sərˈmaɪ.zɪz (phonetic respelling: sər-MY-ziz). Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (sər · MY · ziz), with primary lexical stress placed on the 2nd syllable (MY). Grammatically, “surmises” functions as a noun, verb and acts as an English heteronym where syllable stress shifts between noun (initial-syllable stress) and verb (second-syllable stress) usage. SayItVid indexes 6 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “surmises” in natural connected speech across American (US: 6 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from MIT OpenCourseWare, YaleCourses, Stanford.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USMIT OpenCourseWareClip #1 · @44:42
“at this time it's hard to read that but it's obviously it's a matter of convention or hear the listener merely surmises the composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical”
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #2 · @2:12
“she was found dead. And there was a lot of surmises that actually she was passing all those years when she disappeared. passing all those years when she disappeared.”
- 🇺🇸 USStanfordClip #3 · @28:44
“where I really have no clue what I'm doing yet I want to throw some of these idea out here for you so if we talk about effectiveness rather than a quality here's one of the surmises of the theories that I want to put on the quality here's one of the surmises of the theories that I want to put on the”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @1:32
“with Moscow a deal that even South Korea's defense Ministry surmises has led to North Korean troops being ready to fight in Ukraine Tran meanwhile has provided drones by the thousands to Russia plus Ukraine Tran meanwhile has provided drones by the thousands to Russia plus”
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #5 · @20:15
“are people we see once and never again, that we know just by those two attributes, what kind of clothes they wear and our surmises as to what kind of occupations they have. So our surmises as to what kind of occupations they have. So”
Definition & Meaning: “surmises”
- Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
- Reflection; thought; posit.
- To imagine or suspect; to conjecture; to posit with contestable premises.
Example Sentences (3)
- “surmises of jealousy or of envy”
- “My Thought, whoſe Murther yet is but fantaſticall, / Shakes ſo my ſingle ſtate of Man, / That Function is ſmother'd in ſurmiſe, / And nothing is, but what is not.”
- “convention or hear the listener merely surmises the composition's presumable course and Compares it with the image of a musical”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “surmises”
- Pronunciation:
- sər-MY-ziz
- Syllables:
- sər · MY · ziz
- Written Hyphenation:
- sur · mi · ses
- Primary stress:
- MY
- IPA:
- sərˈmaɪ.zɪz
- Hear it in context
- surmises
Synonyms: “surmises”
Hear words related in meaning to “surmises” in real video clips:
Words that Rhyme with “surmises”
-aɪzɪzWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"surmises" (⁄sərˈmaɪ.zɪz⁄) 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, "surmises" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about surmises
How do you pronounce “surmises”?
“surmises” is pronounced ⁄sərˈmaɪ.zɪz⁄ (sər-MY-ziz). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “surmises”?
“surmises” has 3 syllables: sər · MY · ziz.
Where is the stress in “surmises”?
The primary stress in “surmises” is on “MY”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “surmises” mean?
Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
How can I hear “surmises” used in real sentences?
This page has 6 real-world video examples of “surmises” 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 “surmises”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).