Slova
Conscientious is pronounced kahn-shee-EN-shus in American English and kon-shee-EN-shus in British English. It has four syllables with the stress on the third, EN. Both the sc and the t make a sh sound.
conscientious
adjective · careful to do your work well and thoroughly
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˌkɑːn.ʃiˈen.ʃəs/
kahn
shee
ENstressed
shus
UK British English/ˌkɒn.ʃiˈen.ʃəs/
kon
shee
ENstressed
shus
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes conscientious, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Both sc and ti sound like sh. Put the stress on EN.
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conscientious
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say kahn-shee-EN-shus.
Notkon-sy-EN-shus
Reading sci as in science. Here it is shee, the same sound as in conscience.
NotKON-shus
Saying conscious, which is a different word. Conscientious has four syllables and the stress on EN.
Notkon-shee-EN-tee-us
Saying the t as a t. Before -ious it becomes sh: EN-shus.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
She's a conscientious worker who checks every detail.
He was a conscientious objector during the war.
Be conscientious about backing up your files.
Conscientious is built on conscience, KON-shuns, and came into English from French and Medieval Latin. The sci part keeps the sh sound it has in conscience. It does not sound like the sci in science.
The second sh comes from the ending. Before -ious, the letter t usually becomes sh, as in cautious, ambitious and infectious.
The ending also moves the stress. Conscience is stressed on the first syllable, but conscientious is stressed on EN, the syllable just before -tious, like am-BI-tious and de-LI-cious.
Build it in steps: kon, shee, EN, shus. Then join them, with EN the loudest.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
In Slova you say new words out loud in every lesson, at your level, in lessons built around what you love.