Here's why:
* Schwa sound: A short, unstressed vowel sound represented by the symbol "ə". It's like a very short "uh" sound.
* Compete: The emphasis is on the first syllable, "com". This makes the second syllable, "pe", unstressed.
* "pe": In the unstressed syllable, the "e" is pronounced as a schwa sound.
So, "compete" sounds like "com-ə-teet".