Slova
Schedule is pronounced SKEJ-ool in American English and SHEJ-ool or SHED-yool in British English. It has two syllables with the stress on the first. The difference is the start: SK in the US, SH in the UK.
schedule
noun and verb · a plan of when things will happen; to plan something for a certain time
Also said: US /ˈskedʒ.əl/; UK /ˈʃed.juːl/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford gives /ˈʃed.juːl/ for British English. Cambridge also lists /ˈskedʒ.əl/ for American English. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈskedʒ.uːl/
SKEJstressed
ool
UK British English/ˈʃedʒ.uːl/
SHEJstressed
ool
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes schedule, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Americans start with SK, as in school. British speakers usually start with SH, as in shed.
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
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schedule
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say SKEJ-ool.
Notskeh-JOOL
Stressing the second syllable. The beat is on the first: SKEJ or SHEJ.
NotSKED-ool
Saying a plain D, so the end sounds like rule. The d joins the next vowel as j or dy: SKEJ-ool.
Notes-KEJ-ool
Adding a vowel before SK, as speakers of Spanish often do. Start straight on the S.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The train left right on schedule.
Can we schedule a call for Monday?
My schedule is full until Friday.
In Middle English the word was cedule, from Old French, and it began with a plain S sound. Later the spelling was changed to sch, to match the Latin schedula. Once the new spelling was in place, speakers began to say what they saw.
They read sch in two ways. British English settled mainly on SH. American English chose SK, the sound of sch in school and scheme. Cambridge and Oxford both give SK for the US and SH for the UK.
The middle varies too. Oxford lists SHED-yool for British English and Cambridge lists SHEJ-ool; both are correct. Use the start that matches the accent you are learning. Speakers of either accent will understand you.
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.