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How to pronounce debut

Debut is pronounced day-BYOO in American English and DAY-byoo in British English. It has two syllables, and the t at the end is silent. The stress moves between the accents.

Say it yourself
  • 2 syllables
  • Stress on BYOO
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

debut

Two syllables, stress on the second

noun · the first time someone appears in public, for example in a film or a game

  1. daydeɪ
  2. BYOObjuː (stressed)
  • US /deɪˈbjuː/day-BYOO Recorded voice
  • UK /ˈdeɪ.bjuː/DAY-byoo Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Debut, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

US American English/deɪˈbjuː/

  1. day

    • /d/as in did
    • /eɪ/as in day

  2. BYOOstressed

    • /b/as in bad
    • /j/as in yes
    • /uː/as in too

UK British English/ˈdeɪ.bjuː/

  1. DAYstressed

    • /d/as in did
    • /eɪ/as in day

  2. byoo

    • /b/as in bad
    • /j/as in yes
    • /uː/as in too

Say debut yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes debut, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. The t is silent. Say day-BYOO (US) or DAY-byoo (UK). Do not end with a t.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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debut

    Common debut pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say day-BYOO.

    • Notday-BYOOT

      Saying the t at the end. French words ending in t often have no t sound.

    • NotDEB-yoot

      Using the short e and saying the t. The first vowel is ay, and the t is silent.

    • Notdeh-BOO

      Dropping the y sound. The stressed syllable is BYOO, as in beautiful.

    Debut in a sentence

    Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.

    • It was her debut in a big film.

    • The young player made his debut last night.

    • The band released their debut album in May.

    Is the t in debut silent?

    Yes. The t is silent, as in many words that English borrowed from French: ballet, buffet and depot. Debut ends in the sound oo, as in you.

    The word is the French début, from débuter, to start, and ultimately from but, a mark or goal. Your debut is the moment you aim at the mark for the first time.

    The stress differs. In American English the stress is on the end, day-BYOO. In British English it is on the start, DAY-byoo. Some British speakers say DEB-yoo, a form Wiktionary lists, but the dictionaries give DAY-byoo.

    Words that sound like debut

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

    More words from other languages

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