Pronunciation

How to pronounce “borrow

“borrow” is pronounced /ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/ (BAH-roh) in American English and /bɒɹəʊ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “bor”.
The sound

Say “borrow” in 2 beats

Say it like this

borrow

/ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /bɒɹəʊ/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. borstress
  2. rowɹoʊ
IPA (American)
/ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/
IPA (British)
/bɒɹəʊ/
Respelling
BAH-roh
Syllables
2 — BOR-row
Stress
Stress the first syllable: BOR-row. “bor” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/

British

/bɒɹəʊ/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “borrow” means

  1. verb

    get temporarily

    May I borrow your lawn mower?

  2. verb

    take up and practice as one's own

Say it in a sentence

You can borrow the book for three weeks at a time.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

borrow”, answered

How do you pronounce “borrow”?

“borrow” is pronounced /ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/ (BAH-roh) in American English and /bɒɹəʊ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “bor”. Build it as BOR-row, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “borrow” have?

2: bor · row. The beat lands on the first, “bor”.

Is “borrow” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/ (BAH-roh); British English says /bɒɹəʊ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “borrow” mean?

As a verb: get temporarily For example: “May I borrow your lawn mower?” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “borrow”?

Stress the first syllable: BOR-row. “bor” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “borrow” 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.