How to pronounce “curtail”
Say “curtail” in 2 beats
curtail
/kɚˈteɪl/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kɜːteɪl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- curkɚ
- tailteɪlstress
- IPA (American)
- /kɚˈteɪl/
- IPA (British)
- /kɜːteɪl/
- Respelling
- kuh-TAYL
- Syllables
- 2 — cur-TAIL
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: cur-TAIL. “tail” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Difficulty
- Legend — spelling and sound part company here
American and British are not the same here
/kɚˈteɪl/
/kɜːteɪl/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “curtail” means
- verb
place restrictions on
“curtail drinking in school”
- verb
terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent
“My speech was cut short”
Say it in a sentence
“Rain forced us to curtail the walk after an hour.”“curtail”, answered
How do you pronounce “curtail”?
“curtail” is pronounced /kɚˈteɪl/ (kuh-TAYL) in American English and /kɜːteɪl/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “tail”. Build it as cur-TAIL, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “curtail” have?
2: cur · tail. The beat lands on the second, “tail”.
Is “curtail” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /kɚˈteɪl/ (kuh-TAYL); British English says /kɜːteɪl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “curtail” mean?
As a verb: place restrictions on For example: “curtail drinking in school” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “curtail”?
Stress the second syllable: cur-TAIL. “tail” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “curtail” 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.