How to pronounce “acquire”
Say “acquire” in 3 beats
acquire
/əˈkwaɪɚ/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɐkwaɪə/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- acə
- quirkwaɪstress
- eɚ
- IPA (American)
- /əˈkwaɪɚ/
- IPA (British)
- /ɐkwaɪə/
- Respelling
- uh-KWY-uh
- Syllables
- 3 — ac-QUIR-e
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ac-QUIR-e. “quir” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/əˈkwaɪɚ/
/ɐkwaɪə/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “acquire” means
- verb
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
“She got a lot of paintings from her uncle”
- verb
take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
“His voice took on a sad tone”
- verb
come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
“He grew a beard”
Say it in a sentence
“It takes years to acquire that kind of confidence on stage.”“acquire”, answered
How do you pronounce “acquire”?
“acquire” is pronounced /əˈkwaɪɚ/ (uh-KWY-uh) in American English and /ɐkwaɪə/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “quir”. Build it as ac-QUIR-e, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “acquire” have?
3: ac · quir · e. The beat lands on the second, “quir”.
Is “acquire” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /əˈkwaɪɚ/ (uh-KWY-uh); British English says /ɐkwaɪə/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “acquire” mean?
As a verb: come into the possession of something concrete or abstract For example: “She got a lot of paintings from her uncle” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “acquire”?
Stress the second syllable: ac-QUIR-e. “quir” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “acquire” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.