English to IPA Converter
Type or paste English text to translate it into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): a phonetic transcription with stress marks, in American pronunciation. Free, and it runs entirely in your browser.
| Word | IPA | a / an | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| hello | /həˈloʊ/, /hɛˈloʊ/ | a | |
| how | /haʊ/ | a | howe |
| are | /ɑr/, /ɚ/ | an | ar, our |
| you | /ju/ | a | yew |
| today | /təˈdeɪ/, /tuˈdeɪ/ | a |
How the IPA translator works
Each word is looked up in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, about 126,000 words and names with their American pronunciation. The dictionary's ARPAbet codes are turned into IPA symbols, and the stress mark is placed before the stressed syllable: ˈ for primary stress, ˌ for secondary. One-syllable words get no mark, as in most dictionaries.
The word list under the result shows every pronunciation a word has, whether it takes a or an (that depends on the first sound, not the first letter: an hour, a university), and common words that sound the same.
English IPA symbols chart
The symbols this converter uses, with an example word for each sound.
| IPA | Example | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | see /si/ | p | pen /pɛn/ |
| ɪ | sit /sɪt/ | b | bad /bæd/ |
| eɪ | day /deɪ/ | t | tea /ti/ |
| ɛ | bed /bɛd/ | d | did /dɪd/ |
| æ | cat /kæt/ | k | cat /kæt/ |
| ɑ | father /ˈfɑðɚ/ | ɡ | go /ɡoʊ/ |
| ɔ | law /lɔ/ | tʃ | chair /tʃɛr/ |
| oʊ | go /ɡoʊ/ | dʒ | jam /dʒæm/ |
| ʊ | book /bʊk/ | f | fall /fɔl/ |
| u | food /fud/ | v | van /væn/ |
| ʌ | cup /kʌp/ | θ | thin /θɪn/ |
| ə | about /əˈbaʊt/ | ð | this /ðɪs/ |
| ɝ | bird /bɝd/ | s | see /si/ |
| ɚ | water /ˈwɔtɚ/ | z | zoo /zu/ |
| aɪ | my /maɪ/ | ʃ | she /ʃi/ |
| aʊ | now /naʊ/ | ʒ | vision /ˈvɪʒən/ |
| ɔɪ | boy /bɔɪ/ | h | hat /hæt/ |
| m | man /mæn/ | l | leg /lɛɡ/ |
| n | no /noʊ/ | r | red /rɛd/ |
| ŋ | sing /sɪŋ/ | w | wet /wɛt/ |
| ˈ | primary stress | j | yes /jɛs/ |
Questions
Which accent does the converter use?
General American. The pronunciations come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which records American English. British transcriptions differ, for example in words like water, car and tomato.
Why do some words show two transcriptions?
Some words have more than one accepted pronunciation (tomato, either) or are pronounced differently depending on meaning (read in present and past tense). The converter shows the first one in the full text and all of them in the word list.
Why is r written as r and not ɹ?
Strict IPA writes the English r sound as ɹ, but learner dictionaries such as Cambridge and Oxford write r. This tool follows the dictionaries so the result matches what you see when you look a word up.
What if a word is missing?
The dictionary has about 126,000 words and names. Words that aren't in it are shown with a question mark and left untranscribed rather than guessed.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The dictionary is downloaded once and the conversion runs in your browser. Nothing you type leaves your device. The page uses Google Analytics to count visits, without your text.
About the author
Dima Tretyak
Software developer, creator of Word of the Day · @dimatretyak on X
I'm a full-stack software developer with more than 15 years of experience building web and mobile products. I make Word of the Day, an app for learning one English word a day, and built this converter as a free tool for English learners.
The transcriptions come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, not from my own judgement. If you spot a wrong one, open an issue on GitHub.