Native Phrase Lab
WillowbrookWord 522 of 545 · The stress trap
How to pronounce awkward
/ˈɔːkwəd/ British English
AWK·wəd
2 beats (syllables). The strong beat is the first one.
a Coloured letters don’t sound the way they look.
✗ Many people say
awk·WARD
✓ Say
AWK·wəd
My tip
Stress the start, and ward is just wəd.
In a sentence
That was an awkward moment.
Now you say it
- Listen to me two or three times.
- Say it slowly, one beat at a time: AWK-wəd.
- Say the sentence at normal speed.
Questions
How do you pronounce awkward?
In British English, awkward is pronounced /ˈɔːkwəd/. Say it like this: AWK-wəd. Stress the start, and ward is just wəd.
How many syllables are in awkward?
When you say it, awkward has 2 syllables: AWK-wəd. The strong beat is the first one, AWK.
More words like this: the stress trap
Practise these sounds
- The schwa, /ə/The small, weak sound in this word. It’s one of the 4 sounds you can practise completely free in my Sound Atlas.
- The strong beat: /ɔː/ as in “door”Meet this sound and hear it in my Sound Atlas. Free.
- The Sound MapAll 44 sounds of British English, in my voice. Free.
- Pitch Perfect: the Word stress setHear me say it, record yourself, and see your sound under mine. A premium game.
- More gamesFive of my English games are free to play.