How to pronounce “alternate”
“alternate” is said two ways
/ˈɔltɚnət/
AWL-tur-nuht
Meaning every other, or a stand-in. Ends in -nuht; British English also moves the beat to awl-TUR-nuht.
/ˈɔltɚˌneɪt/
AWL-tur-nayt
To swap back and forth. Ends in a full -nayt.
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: “We alternate shifts, so I take the alternate weekend.”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 “alternate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the adjective and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “alternate” in 3 beats
alternate
/ˈɔltɚnət/
Everything in this card describes the adjective form. As a verb it is /ˈɔltɚˌneɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɔːlˈtɜːnət/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɔlɔlstress
- tɚtɚ
- nətnət
- IPA (American)
- /ˈɔltɚnət/
- IPA (British)
- /ɔːlˈtɜːnət/
- Respelling
- AWL-tur-nuht (adjective) · AWL-tur-nayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 3 — ƆL-tɚ-nət
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: ƆL-tɚ-nət. “ɔl” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
This is the adjective form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/ˈɔltɚnət/
/ɔːlˈtɜːnət/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “alternate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“on AWL-tur-nayt days”
the adjective ends in -nuht; only the verb ends in -nayt
What “alternate” means
- noun
someone who takes the place of another person
- verb
go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions
- verb
exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions
Say it in a sentence
“We alternate shifts, so I take the alternate weekend.”“alternate”, answered
How do you pronounce “alternate”?
“alternate” has two pronunciations: /ˈɔltɚnət/ as an adjective and /ˈɔltɚˌneɪt/ 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 adjective form. Build it as ƆL-tɚ-nət, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “alternate” have?
3: ɔl · tɚ · nət. The beat lands on the first, “ɔl”.
Which pronunciation of “alternate” is correct?
Both are. /ˈɔltɚnət/ (AWL-tur-nuht) as an adjective; /ˈɔltɚˌneɪt/ (AWL-tur-nayt) 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: “We alternate shifts, so I take the alternate weekend.”
Is “alternate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈɔltɚnət/ (AWL-tur-nuht); British English says /ɔːlˈtɜːnət/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “alternate” mean?
As a noun: someone who takes the place of another person For example: “We alternate shifts, so I take the alternate weekend.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “alternate”?
Stress the first syllable: ƆL-tɚ-nət. “ɔl” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “alternate” 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.