How To Pronounce Pirate

In British English, pirate is pronounced /ˈpaɪ.rət/ or /ˈpaɪ.rɪt/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈpʰaɪ.rət̚]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈpaɪ.rət/.

Pirate has two 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.