3 syllables: com, mut, ing. Stress on mut.
kuh-MYOO-ting
/kəˈmjutɪŋ/
commuting is pronounced kuh-MYOO-ting (/kəˈmjutɪŋ/). It has three syllables (com-mut-ing), with the stress on "mut". Commuting refers to the act of traveling regularly between home and work or school, typically by vehicle, rail, or bus. It can also describe the regular movement of people within a city for daily errands. The term emphasizes routine, travel time, and often indirect or shared transportation. It is commonly used to discuss schedules, congestion, and lifestyle impacts.
Commuting refers to the act of traveling regularly between home and work or school, typically by vehicle, rail, or bus. It can also describe the regular movement of people within a city for daily errands. The term emphasizes routine, travel time, and often indirect or shared transportation. It is commonly used to discuss schedules, congestion, and lifestyle impacts.
- You: You may produce a softer /t/ or skip it in casual speech, resulting in /ˈkɒmjuːɪŋ/. Practice with clear /t/ before /ɪŋ/ to keep syllable integrity. - Focus on the sequence /mjuː/—the /m/ and /j/ should flow into the long /uː/; avoid merging to /mj/ or /juː/. - Control the length of the final /ɪŋ/; avoid a clipped ending that sounds like /ɪn/ or /iŋ/. - In connected speech, background vowels can be reduced; rehearse with slow, deliberate enunciation before speeding up.
"She spends two hours a day commuting into the city for her job."
"The commute by train is usually quiet, which lets him read on the way."
"During rush hour, commuting can be stressful due to crowded platforms and traffic."
Pace your speech: COM-mu-ting with stress on the first syllable. IPA US: ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ (British: ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ). Start with a clear /ˈk/ followed by a short /ɒ/ or /ɒ/ sound, then /mjuː/ as a /m/ plus a long /uː/ glide, and end with /tɪŋ/. For most speakers the middle syllable includes a light /j/ onset before /uː/. Keep the final -ing as /ɪŋ/ rather than a full /ɪŋ/ with extra vowel.
Common errors: (1) Misplacing stress, saying com-MU-ting. (2) Slurring the /juː/ cluster into /ju/ as in ‘you,’ producing /ˈkɒmjuːtɪŋ/ sounds off. (3) Dropping the /t/ in rapid speech and making it /ˈkɒmjuːɪŋ/. Correction: keep stress on the first syllable, articulate /m/ then glide /j/ into /uː/, clearly pronounce the /t/ before the final /ɪŋ/. Practice with minimal pairs to maintain the /t/ and /j/ sequence.
US/UK/AU: US often has /ˈkɒm.juː.tɪŋ/ with a stronger rhoticity and slightly rounded /ɒ/; UK tends to the same /ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ/ but with quicker vowel transitions; AU often mirrors UK but with a flatter intonation and a less pronounced /ˈkɒ/ vowel, sometimes reducing to /ˈkɒm.juː.tɪŋ/. All share the /juː/ glide and final /tɪŋ/; differences lie in vowel quality and rhoticity subtlety.
The difficulty lies in the contrast between the hard initial /k/ and the following /ɒ/ vowel, the /j/ glide into /uː/, and the clear /t/ before the final /ɪŋ/. Rapid speech can blur the /m/ and the /j/, turning it into /ˈkɒm.mjuː.ɪŋ/ or /ˈkɒmˌjuː.tɪŋ/. Focusing on a precise /t/ before the nasal /ŋ/ helps maintain accurate syllable boundaries. Use slow drills to stabilize the /mjuː/ cluster.
In rapid or casual speech you might hear a reduced /ɒ/ to a schwa, sounding more like /kəmˈjuːtɪŋ/ depending on speaker and speed. However, careful articulation especially in formal contexts preserves the /ɒ/ sound: /ˈkɒm.juː.tɪŋ/. The reduction tends to occur in fast dialogue when the first syllable is unstressed, but for standard enunciation keep /ˈkɒm/.
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- US: emphasise rhotic stress and clear /ˈkɒm.mjuː.tɪŋ/ with a strong /ɒ/ and longer /uː/; ensure /r/ is not involved here. - UK: maintain non-rhotic tendency; keep /ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ/ with crisp /t/ and normal /juː/ glide. - AU: similar to UK but with relatively flatter intonation; ensure the vowel quality in /ɒ/ is open and not centralized. IPA references: US ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ, UK ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ, AU ˈkɒ.mjuː.tɪŋ.
The word commuting derives from the verb commute, which comes from the Latin mutare, meaning to change or exchange, through the Old French commuer. The form commute in English began appearing in the late Middle Ages with meanings related to changing places or exchanging one thing for another. By the 18th and 19th centuries, commute shifted notably to describe the regular travel between home and work or other obligations, a usage that grew with urbanization and industrialization, when people moved distances daily for employment. The noun commuting emerged to denote the activity itself as a present participle form, commonly used in phrases like ‘commuting time’ or ‘commuting costs.’ Over time, the connotation broadened to include any regular, daily travel between destinations, especially in the context of urban commuting. First known uses in historical records appear in travel and labor contexts, aligning with the expansion of city life and mass transit in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "commuting" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "commuting"
-ing sounds
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