gratefully is /ˈɡreɪt.fəl.i/ in both British and American English on Cambridge, with stress on the first syllable: GREYT-fuh-lee. Keep GREYT stressed; the last two syllables, fuh and lee, never take stress, so avoid saying grey-FUH-lee.
Keep GREYT strong and let GREYT carry the stress, with fuh and lee staying light and unstressed.
Mouth sequence
gratefully is /ˈɡreɪt.fəl.i/ in British and American English on Cambridge, GREYT-fuh-lee. The first syllable GREYT carries the stress, while the last two syllables, fuh and lee, never take it, so avoid saying grey-FUH-lee.
Avoid the urge to push stress onto fuh; keep the stress on GREYT and let fuh and lee stay light as you say the syllables in a row.
Open your jaw for GREYT and hold the vowel steady, like the word great, then press your tongue tip up behind your top teeth for the t.
Let your lower lip touch your upper teeth for f. Then drop your jaw slightly into a relaxed uh, the vowel in about, with no stress.
Keep the final syllable light: pull your tongue tip up toward your ridge for l and finish on ee. Stay off the last part so GREYT keeps the stress.
- Say it three times, keeping GREYT stressed while fuh and lee stay light. Pause before each attempt so GREYT lands freshly stressed each time.
Say it in a phrase
gratefully is /ˈɡreɪt.fəl.i/, with stress on the first syllable: GREYT-fuh-lee. Inside a full sentence, keep GREYT strong even when the words run together, for example in I accepted the offer gratefully, where GREYT should stay prominent rather than fading into the flow of speech.
Say I accepted the offer gratefully, letting GREYT carry the stress while fuh and lee stay light.
Contrast pair: greatly versus gratefully. Both start with GREYT, but only the second presses your lower lip to your upper teeth for the f.
Contrast pair: grateful versus gratefully. Say the shorter word, then reopen the l and finish on a light lee.
Build it up in pieces instead of repeating the full sentence: say GREYT, then GREYT-fuh, then gratefully, three times through, pausing before each attempt so GREYT lands freshly stressed.