audio example by a male speaker
audio example by a female speaker
the above transcription of sustain is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.
press buttons with phonetic symbols to learn how to precisely pronounce each sound of sustain
press the "test" button to check how closely you can replicate the pitch of a native speaker in your pronunciation of sustain
An example use of sustain in a speech by a native speaker of american english:
“… a platform to sustain and create …”
Sustain means to keep something in existence or to keep something going.
the word sustain occurs in english on average 8.4 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for C1 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.