How To Pronounce Desire

In British English, desire is pronounced /dɪˈzaɪə/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [dɪˈzaɪəʴ]. In American English, it is pronounced /dɪˈzaɪr/.

Desire has two 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.