How to pronounce “advocate”
“advocate” is said two ways
/ˈædvəkət/
AD-vuh-kuht
The person who argues for something. Ends in a reduced -kuht.
/ˈædvəˌkeɪt/
AD-vuh-kayt
To argue for something. Ends in a full -kayt.
Listen for the vowel, not the letters
The spelling never moves; the sounds inside it do. Practise the two back to back, so your mouth stops defaulting to whichever one you learnt first.Both forms live in one sentence here: “As an advocate for cyclists she will advocate for wider lanes.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “advocate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the noun and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “advocate” in 3 beats
advocate
/ˈædvəkət/
Everything in this card describes the noun form. As a verb it is /ˈædvəˌkeɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈadvəkət/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ædædstress
- vəvə
- kətkət
- IPA (American)
- /ˈædvəkət/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈadvəkət/
- Respelling
- AD-vuh-kuht (noun) · AD-vuh-kayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 3 — ÆD-və-kət
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: ÆD-və-kət. “æd” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
This is the noun form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/ˈædvəkət/
/ˈadvəkət/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “advocate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“a strong AD-vuh-kayt”
the person is AD-vuh-kuht; only the verb ends in -kayt
What “advocate” means
- noun
a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
- noun
a lawyer who pleads cases in court
- verb
push for something
“The travel agent recommended strongly that we not travel on Thanksgiving Day”
Say it in a sentence
“As an advocate for cyclists she will advocate for wider lanes.”“advocate”, answered
How do you pronounce “advocate”?
“advocate” has two pronunciations: /ˈædvəkət/ as a noun and /ˈædvəˌkeɪt/ as a verb — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the sounds inside it do, and nothing on the page tells you which one a sentence wants. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the noun form. Build it as ÆD-və-kət, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “advocate” have?
3: æd · və · kət. The beat lands on the first, “æd”.
Which pronunciation of “advocate” is correct?
Both are. /ˈædvəkət/ (AD-vuh-kuht) as a noun; /ˈædvəˌkeɪt/ (AD-vuh-kayt) as a verb. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does, and the two are as different as any two words. Both appear here: “As an advocate for cyclists she will advocate for wider lanes.”
Is “advocate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈædvəkət/ (AD-vuh-kuht); British English says /ˈadvəkət/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “advocate” mean?
As a noun: a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea For example: “As an advocate for cyclists she will advocate for wider lanes.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “advocate”?
Stress the first syllable: ÆD-və-kət. “æd” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “advocate” 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.