3 syllables: in, tern, ships. Stress on in.
IN-turn-ships
/ˈɪntɚˌnʃɪps/
internships is pronounced IN-turn-ships (/ˈɪntɚˌnʃɪps/). It has three syllables (in-tern-ships), with the stress on "in". Internships are structured, supervised work experiences offered by organizations to students or early-career individuals, typically for a fixed period. They provide hands-on practice in a field, often alongside academic studies, with a goal of skill development and professional networking. The term can also denote the position itself, or a program that includes training components and evaluative feedback.
Internships are structured, supervised work experiences offered by organizations to students or early-career individuals, typically for a fixed period. They provide hands-on practice in a field, often alongside academic studies, with a goal of skill development and professional networking. The term can also denote the position itself, or a program that includes training components and evaluative feedback.
"She landed two internships before graduating, each in a different department."
"The summer internships offered by the tech firm included mentorship and project work."
"He decided to do an internship abroad to gain international industry exposure."
Pronounce as in-TERN-ships, with the primary stress on the second syllable. IPA US/UK/AU: /ˈɪn.tɜːn.ʃɪps/. The first syllable sounds like “in” with a short I, the second syllable has a stressed central vowel /ɜː/ similar to ‘fur’ without the r-color, and the final syllable is a light /ʃɪps/ as in ‘ships’ with an /ɪ/ vowel. Keep the /t/ light and the /n/ clear before /t/. A quick tip: say “in-TURN-ships.” Audio: listen to native speakers on Forvo or YouGlish for natural rhythm.
Typical errors: (1) Stress misplacement, saying in-TERN-ships or IN-tern-ships; (2) Vowel drift in the second syllable, using /ɜː/ or a lax /ə/ instead of the correct mid-central /ɜː/; (3) Blurring the /t/ into a flap or /d/ in rapid speech, or producing a too-strong /t/. Corrections: emphasize the second syllable with clear, brisk /tɜːr/; maintain a mid-central /ɜː/ rather than /ɪ/ or /ə/; and articulate a crisp /n/ before /t/ without adding vowel between. Practice slow, then speed up while retaining accurate vowel quality.
In US, UK, and AU, the word is essentially /ˈɪn.tɜːn.ʃɪps/, but vowel quality varies: US often uses /ɜː/ or /ɜr/ depending on rhoticity in connected speech; UK typically uses /ˈɪn.tɜːn.ʃɪps/ with non-rhotic tendency and lengthier /ɜː/; AU tends to resemble UK with a pure /ɜː/ vowel but may have more centralized, closer to /ə/. Consonants are similar; the /t/ can be a light alveolar stop; variations in flapping are unlikely in careful speech but appear in casual US speech as a soft /d/ in some dialects. Maintain the second-syllable stress for naturalness in all regions.
The difficulty lies in the three-syllable rhythm with a central stressed second syllable and a tricky /ɜː/ vowel cluster /tɜː/ between consonants. The sequence /ntɜːn/ can blur in rapid speech if you don’t separate the /n/ from /t/. Additionally, the final /ʃɪps/ requires precise lip rounding and tongue position for /ʃ/ followed by a short /ɪ/ and /ps/ cluster. Focus on a clean /t/ before the /ɜː/ and a sharp /ʃ/ after. ”,
A useful tip is to anchor your mouth for the second syllable: start with a neutral /ɪn/ and lift to /tɜːn/ by slightly retracting the tongue blade and relaxing the jaw; keep lips forward for /ʃ/ in the final syllable. Practice by saying ‘in’ smoothly into ‘turn’ but without adding an extra vowel. Record yourself saying ‘internships’ in isolation, then in a sentence, and compare with a native speaker. This helps you nail the stress, the central vowel, and the final /ʃɪps/ sequence.
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- US: rhoticity means the /r/ is pronounced in interest of surrounding vowels; keep /ɜː/ unaffected by following consonants. In fast speech you may hear vowel reduction elsewhere; keep the /ɜː/ strong in the middle 'turn'. IPA guidance to maintain exact central vowel, with crisp /t/ before it. - UK: typically non-rhotic; /r/ is not pronounced in non-rhotic contexts; ensure you don’t pronounce an /r/ after /t/ unless followed by a vowel. The /ɜː/ vowel is typically longer; maintain its length for natural rhythm. - AU: similar to UK but with slight vowel quality variations; tends toward a pure /ɜː/ with less rhoticity; ensure the final /ʃɪps/ remains precise. General tip: practice with minimal pairs that highlight vowel focus like /ɪ/ vs /ɪə/ in second syllable. Use IPA references to verify.
Internship derives from the combination of internship, internship-like forms in late Middle English, and earlier Latin-based usage. The base word intern has roots in Latin internus “inside, internal” via French travailler in intern- formation, but the modern employment sense emerges in the 20th century in the United States and United Kingdom. The suffix -ship signals a state or condition. The first widely used sense of “intern” referred to a person who is placed inside an organization for practical experience, with a formal program that often included supervision. By the 1960s–1980s, “internships” had become common in universities, business schools, and medical programs as a credentialed pipeline into careers, with standardized durations and structured curricula. Over time, internships expanded beyond a single profession to a broad range of fields, including tech, media, finance, and non-profits, sometimes with stipends or academic credit. Activation and evaluation mechanisms—projects, reports, and mentor feedback—became core components, reinforcing internships as professional acclimation rather than casual work. In contemporary usage, internships may be paid or unpaid, credit-bearing or non-credit, and may include remote or hybrid formats, but the core meaning remains: a supervised, temporary work experience intended to develop job-ready skills and industry familiarity.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "internships" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "internships"
-ips sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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