How To Pronounce Tentative

In British English, tentative is pronounced /ˈten.tə.tɪv/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈtʰẽn.tə.tɪv]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈten.t̯ə.t̯ɪv/.

Tentative has three 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.