How To Pronounce Curtain

In British English, curtain is pronounced /ˈkɜː.tən/ or /ˈkɜː.tɪn/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈkʰɜːʴ.tn̩]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈkɜːr.t̯ən/.

Curtain has two syllables, and the main stress falls on the first 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.