How to pronounce nine
Say it like NYNE. Nine is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce nine. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- NYNE
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Nine pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- NYNESay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in time.
American vs British pronunciation of nine
American and British speakers say nine in essentially the same way: /naɪn/ in the US and /naɪn/ in the UK.
British respelling: NYNE.
What does nine mean?
- the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
- a team of professional baseball players who play and travel together“each club played six home games with teams in its own division”
- one of four playing cards in a deck with nine pips on the face
- denoting a quantity consisting of one more than eight and one less than ten
Where does nine come from?
From Middle English nyn, nyne, from Old English nigon (“nine”), from Proto-West Germanic *neun, from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”).
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
- ix
Words that rhyme with nine
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of nine.
Questions about saying nine
How do you pronounce nine?
Say NYNE. The American pronunciation is /naɪn/. In British English it is /naɪn/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in nine?
Nine is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: NYNE.
Do Americans and Brits say nine the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /naɪn/ and the British form is /naɪn/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.