Start with the 's' sound, pronounced like 's' in 'see'.
Add 'ɜr', similar to 'sir' but with a tighter mouth.
Finish with 'pləs'. Use a soft 'p' and light 'l' with an unstressed 'əs'.
misplacing stress (sur-plus instead of SUR-plus)
adding extra syllables (sur-plu-es)
confusing 'ɜr' with 'ər'
Start with the 's' sound, like 's' in 'sea'.
Continue with 'ɜː', pronounced longer as in 'sir'.
End with 'pləs', keeping the 'p' and 'l' soft followed by a relaxed 'əs'.
misplacing stress (sur-plus instead of SUR-plus)
adding extra syllables (sur-plu-es)
confusing 'ɜː' with 'ə'
In both AmE and BrE, 'surplus' has the stress on the first syllable, typical for nouns.
In American English, yes. In British English, it's not pronounced prominently.
It's like the 'u' in 'cup', but shorter and softer.
Extra amount of something.
/sərˈpæs/
To do better than something.
/ˈsɜr.fɪs/
The outer or top part.
/səˈriː.əl/
Strange and dreamlike.
Stress difference in first vs. second syllable with 'surpass'.
The vowel sound in 'surface' (ɜr vs. ɪs).
Different stress pattern and vowel sounds in 'surreal'.
Say 'sir' to get comfortable with 'ɜr'.
Mark the stressed syllable when you write to remember.
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