2 syllables: guess, ing. Stress on guess.
GES-ing
/ˈɡɛsɪŋ/
guessing is pronounced GES-ing (/ˈɡɛsɪŋ/). It has two syllables (guess-ing), with the stress on "guess". Guessing refers to forming an opinion or answer without certain knowledge, often based on inference or probability. It involves estimating possibilities rather than claiming certainty, and is commonly used in everyday speech when information is incomplete. The term can describe both casual hunches and more deliberate conjectures in reasoning or decision-making.
Guessing refers to forming an opinion or answer without certain knowledge, often based on inference or probability. It involves estimating possibilities rather than claiming certainty, and is commonly used in everyday speech when information is incomplete. The term can describe both casual hunches and more deliberate conjectures in reasoning or decision-making.
- Common phonetic challenges: 1) Achieving a crisp, voiceless /s/ before the nasal, 2) Maintaining the short, lax /ɛ/ in the stressed syllable without nasalization creeping into it, 3) Avoiding a prolonged /ɪ/ before /ŋ/ by sustaining a quick /ɪ/ articulation. Corrections: practice a clean /s/ with a tight tongue tip near the alveolar ridge, ensure jaw and tongue gentle drop for /ɛ/ then snap into a short /ɪ/ before the /ŋ/, and end quickly on /ŋ/ without extra vowel length. Use minimal pairs to feel the difference: /s/ vs /z/ in similar contexts, and /ɪ/ vs /iː/ in rapid speech.
"I’m guessing that the meeting starts at 9, but I’ll confirm the time."
"She’s guessing which gift is inside the box based on the shape."
"They were guessing about the winner of the game before it ended."
Pronounce it as /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/. Start with a hard G as in 'go', then the short e /ɛ/ as in 'bed', followed by a clear /s/ sound, and end with a soft nasal /ɪŋ/ like the ending in 'sing'. The primary stress is on the first syllable, 'GÉSS'. Mouth positions: jaw drops slightly for /ɛ/, tongue at the lower-front position for /ɪ/ later, and the tip near the alveolar ridge for /s/.
Two common mistakes: (1) Over-smoothing the /s/ into a devoiced or voiceless blend with /ŋ/, resulting in a hiss-less end; (2) Not reaching the /æ/ or /ɛ/ quality in the first vowel when speakers talk fast, making it sound like /ɡəsɪŋ/. Correction: emphasize the /ɛ/ in the first syllable by slightly lowering the jaw and keeping the tongue high-front; then maintain a crisp /s/ before the final /ŋ/.
US/UK/AU all share /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/, but rhoticity can alter surrounding vowels in connected speech. In US, /ɡˈɛsɪŋ/ with a slightly tensed /ɛ/ and clearer /ɪ/ before /ŋ/. UK tends to lighter /ɪ/ and a shorter /ɪ/ preceded by a tightened /s/, while Australian often flattens the vowel slightly toward /e/ and features more relaxed tongue position, with subtle vowel widening in casual speech. Overall, core rhyme stays the same; differences are in vowel quality and rhythm.
Two factors make it challenging: (1) the sequence /ˈɡɛs/ requires precise tongue placement to produce a crisp /s/ before the nasal /ŋ/, and (2) the transition from the stressed /ɛ/ to the nasal /ŋ/ involves a subtle timing shift to avoid an intrusive air release. Practicing the two segments separately and then linking them helps; pay attention to the timing of the /s/ release before the nasal onset.
A unique focus is the transition from the alveolar /s/ to the velar nasal /ŋ/ without adding extra vowel sounds. Ensure the /s/ ends with a clean voiceless alveolar fricative and the /ŋ/ starts immediately, with the tongue moving toward the velum but not creating a separate vowel. Keeping the /ŋ/ soft and nasal helps maintain natural flow. IPA cues: /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/.
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- US: sharper /ɪ/ and /ə/ reductions in connected speech; UK: slightly longer vowels in careful speech; AU: generally a looser mouth posture and shorter final vowels in casual contexts. Vowel notes: /ɛ/ in stressed syllable tends to be lax but not as lax as /e/; /ɪ/ is a short high-front vowel, often reduced in fast speech to a near-syllabic sound. Consonant: /s/ should be crisp and unvoiced, with minimal voice onset from the following /ɪ/; /ŋ/ should be nasal and soft, not dark or heavy. IPA references: US /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/, UK /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/, AU /ˈɡɛsɪŋ/.
Guessing derives from guess, which originates in Middle English gessen, meaning to guess or suppose, with roots possibly linked to Old English giesan ‘to guess, judge’ and Proto-Germanic *gausôą. The noun guess appears in 14th–15th centuries English as a notion of estimation or conjecture, with “guess” often tied to attempts at discerning truth from uncertain clues. Over time, -ing forms such as guessing emerged to describe the ongoing act of guessing in present participle usage. The semantic trajectory shifts from a crude estimation to a more formal cognitive activity of forming hypotheses. In modern English, guessing spans casual usage (“I’m guessing it’s late”) to formal analysis (“the guess was that the algorithm would converge quickly”). First known uses are scattered in Middle English texts, with more explicit mentions appearing in 16th–17th century works reflecting growing emphasis on inferential reasoning and probabilistic thinking. The word has analogs in many languages that use estimation or conjecture as a communicative device, underscoring its role in everyday reasoning and discourse.
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Words that rhyme with "guessing"
-ing sounds
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