Is “business” two or three syllables?
“business” has 2 or 3 syllables, depending on how you say it. Most dictionaries count 2. BIZ-nis (2) vs BIZ-ih-nis (3, from the spelling).
Every pronunciation, counted
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIZ-nuhs | /ˈbɪz.nəs/ | b ih z · n ah s | 2 | CMU dictionary |
| BIZ-nis | /ˈbɪz.nɪs/ | b ih z · n ih s | 2 | CMU dictionary |
| BIZ-i-nuhs | /ˈbɪz.ɪ.nəs/ | b ih z · ih · n ah s | 3 | added |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Why the count varies
Dropped sounds and spelling pronunciations. The spelling suggests a syllable that ordinary speech does not have (busi-ness, Wed-nes-day, clo-thes). Readers count the letters; listeners count the sounds.
Dictionaries give only two syllables for “business”. The other count is something people hear in speech rather than a standard pronunciation.
What the dictionaries say
- Cambridge (UK) /ˈbɪz.nɪs/
- Cambridge (US) /ˈbɪz.nɪs/, /ˈbɪz·nəs/
- Wiktionary /ˈbɪz.nɪs/, /ˈbɪz.nɪz/, /ˈbɪz.nəs/ (weak vowel), /ˈbɪz.nəz/ (weak vowel)
For haiku, sonnets and song lyrics
For haiku, sonnets and other syllable-counted verse, 'business' is safest as 2 syllables, the count most dictionaries give. Poets have also used it as 3 syllables; either scans if the line is read naturally, but say which you mean if the count matters (haiku judges usually accept the dictionary count).
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Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, checked against Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary transcriptions. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.