Pronunciation

How to pronounce “confer

“confer” is pronounced /kənˈfɝ/ (kuhn-FUR) in American English and /kənfɜː/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “fer”.
The sound

Say “confer” in 2 beats

Say it like this

confer

/kənˈfɝ/

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

2 beats
  1. conkən
  2. ferstress
IPA (American)
/kənˈfɝ/
IPA (British)
/kənfɜː/
Respelling
kuhn-FUR
Syllables
2 — con-FER
Stress
Stress the second syllable: con-FER. “fer” 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

/kənˈfɝ/

British

/kənfɜː/

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

Meaning

What “confer” means

  1. verb

    have a conference in order to talk something over

    We conferred about a plan of action

  2. verb

    present

    The university conferred a degree on its most famous former student, who never graduated

Say it in a sentence

The judges left the hall to confer for twenty minutes.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 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

confer”, answered

How do you pronounce “confer”?

“confer” is pronounced /kənˈfɝ/ (kuhn-FUR) in American English and /kənfɜː/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “fer”. Build it as con-FER, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “confer” have?

2: con · fer. The beat lands on the second, “fer”.

Is “confer” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /kənˈfɝ/ (kuhn-FUR); British English says /kənfɜː/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “confer” mean?

As a verb: have a conference in order to talk something over For example: “We conferred about a plan of action” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “confer”?

Stress the second syllable: con-FER. “fer” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “confer” 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.