Admission refers to the act of allowing entry or the process of admitting someone to a place, organization, or program. It can also denote acknowledgment of a fact or fault. In everyday use, it often blends formal procedures with personal admissions, such as permissions, confirmations, or admissions interviews and tests.
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- You’ll often see people reduce the second syllable, saying /ædmɪʃn/; instead, keep the stress and make sure the /m/ is not swallowed by the /ɪ/. - Consonant cluster confusion between /d/ and /m/: ensure a brief release from /d/ before the /m/ to avoid slurring. - Ending /ʃn/ can be pronounced as /ʃən/; keep the light /n/ after /ʃ/ to produce /ʃn/ instead of an extra syllable. - In rapid speech you might merge /d/ and /m/; focus on a clean /d/ release into a /m/ closure; this ensures clear onset of MIS. - Some learners insert an extra vowel before /m/ (e.g., /ədˈmɪɪʃn/); stay with /ədˈmɪʃn/ for natural rhythm. - Practice with minimal pairs to feel the boundary: admit vs admission, mission vs admission, admission vs ammunition. Focus on the boundary’s timing and breath marks to avoid rushing.
- US: pronounced with a clear /d/ and rhotic /ɚ/ within the first syllable often reduced to /ə/; keep /əs/ as /ɪʃ/ mid. - UK: tends toward slightly crisper /t/ and /d/ with a more clipped vowel quality; stress pattern remains the same. - AU: similar to US but often with more relaxed vowels and slightly longer vowel duration; maintain the /ʃn/ cluster clearly. IPA: /əˈdmɪʃn/ across accents; ensure nonrhotic tendencies do not blur /r/ if present in connected speech. - Vowel contrasts: focus on /ɪ/ in MIS; avoid lowering to /i/; practice with minimal pairs: mis/mi, head/hid; keep the central /ə/ in the initial syllable. - Final cluster /ʃn/ is universal; keep /ʃ/ strong enough to be heard, then a light /n/.
"Her admission to the university required a formal application and an interview."
"The hospital granted him admission after reviewing his medical records."
"During the press conference, there was an admission of miscalculations in the report."
"The church’s admission policy has recently changed to include adaptive services."
Admission comes from the Latin ad- 'to, toward' plus mittere 'to send'. The legal or formal sense of admitting someone to a place or institution developed in Latin via admissions of rights or status, then entering Old French as ademission or admission. In Middle English, it appeared as admissioun before stabilizing in Modern English as admission. The sense broadened from the act of sending someone in or granting permission, to the acknowledgment of a fact or fault, and to the permission to enter an institution (such as school or hospital). The etymological path reflects social processes of inclusion and acknowledgment that accompany accepted status, with the nuanced usages in law, medicine, education, and everyday confession. First attested in English texts by late medieval times, evolving through scholastic and bureaucratic domains into contemporary usage. The pronunciation and stress patterns have remained relatively stable, though the suffix -sion often signals a noun form with the primary stress on the penultimate syllable in historical renditions, and now commonly on the second syllable in modern usage. The word’s structure, admit + -sion, mirrors its core sense of sending someone in or granting admission. Modern users typically parse it as /ədˈmɪʃn/ or /ˌædˈmɪʃn/ with a velar nasal at the end and a clear stress on the second syllable.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "admission" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "admission" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "admission"
-ion sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Say it as /ədˈmɪʃn/. The primary stress is on the second syllable: a-d-MIS-sion. The first vowel is a schwa, the second is a short 'i' as in 'sit,' followed by the 'sh' /ʃ/ sound, then a soft 'n' ending. In careful speech, you’ll hear the full -tion ending as /ʃn/. In connected speech, the first syllable may reduce to /ə/ and the final /n/ can be subdued. You can practice with the rhythm pattern weak-STRONG-weak-weak: əd-MIS-sion.
Common errors: (1) Slurring the middle syllable and saying /ˈædmɪʒn/ with misplaced stress; (2) Dropping the /d/ and saying /ˈæmɪʃn/ or /ədˈmɪʃn/ with unclear onset; (3) Overemphasizing the final /n/ into /ən/ like /ˈædmɪʒən/. Corrections: keep the primary stress on MIS and pronounce the /d/ clearly before /m/ (d + m are adjacent but distinct), keep the /ʃ/ sound, and finish with a light /n/. Practice with minimal pairs to fix consonant boundaries.
In US: /ədˈmɪʃn/ with a rhotic schwa on the first syllable and a crisp /d/. UK/Canada: similar /ədˈmɪʃn/ but with tighter vowel quality and less rhoticity in some vowels; in most non-rhotic British accents you may hear a weaker rhotic before the /m/, but /d/ remains clear. Australian: /ədˈmɪʃn/ with slightly broader vowel sounds and a softer /ɡ/ or /d/? No, /d/ remains. Overall differences are subtle; the main rhythm remains weak-STRONG-weak-weak, but vowel quality shifts slightly. IPA remains /ədˈmɪʃn/ across accents.
Two main challenges: the combination of /d/ + /m/ can blur in rapid speech, and the ending /ʃn/ is less common in English, causing lisps or glottal stops. The initial schwa plus stress on MIS makes the syllable boundary tricky for learners who expect clearer vowel sounds. Focus on keeping the /d/ crisp, the /ʃ/ clear, and the final /n/ light. Slow, exaggerated articulation helps. IPA cues: /əˈd mɪ ʃ n/; practice with slow, then normal, then fast speeds.
A unique aspect is the cluster around the /dm/ sequence at the boundary between the first and second syllables; many learners misplace the /d/ or merge it with the following /m/. Emphasize separate articulations: /d/ as a light but audible stop, then /m/ with the lips closed momentarily. This breaks common mispronunciations and improves intelligibility.
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- Shadowing: listen to a native speaker saying admission in context and repeat in parallel; mimic the rhythm: weak-STRONG-weak-weak. - Minimal pairs: admission vs emission, mission vs admission, admission vs ammunition; focus on boundary /d/ and /m/ separation. - Rhythm practice: practice syllable-timed rhythm, counting beats: 1-2-3-4 with stress on beat 2. - Stress practice: rehearse with primary stress on MIS; practice sentence-level stress to align with emphasis on the noun. - Intonation: practice declarative sentence: “That was an admission.” with rising end on question tags? No; complete sentence. - Recording: use phone or mic to record and compare with target; listen for the boundary /d/ and the cluster /ʃn/. - Context practice: practice in interview phrases, e.g., “Your admission is necessary,” “Admission to the program was granted.”
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