How To Pronounce Conservative

In British English, conservative is pronounced /kənˈsɜː.və.tɪv/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [kə̃nˈsɜːʴ.və.tɪv]. In American English, it is pronounced /kənˈsɜːr.və.t̯ɪv/.

Conservative has four syllables, and the main stress falls on the second syllable. The British and American pronunciations are different, so listen to both.

Slashes / / show the phonemic transcription, the sounds that change meaning. Square brackets [ ] show the phonetic transcription, with the finer detail of how the sounds are actually made.