How To Pronounce Retain

In British English, retain is pronounced /rɪˈteɪn/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [rɪˈtʰeɪ̃n]. In American English, it is pronounced /rɪˈteɪn/.

Retain has two syllables, and the main stress falls on the second 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.