How To Pronounce Difficult

In British English, difficult is pronounced /ˈdɪf.ɪ.kəlt/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈdɪf.ɪ.kəɫt̚]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈdɪf.ɪ.kəlt/.

Difficult has three syllables, and the main stress falls on the first syllable. British and American speakers say it the same way.

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.