Pronunciation

How to pronounce “folk

“folk” is pronounced /foʊk/ (FOHK) in American English and /fəʊk/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “folk” in one beat

Say it like this

folk

/foʊk/

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

1 beat
  1. folkfoʊk
IPA (American)
/foʊk/
IPA (British)
/fəʊk/
Respelling
FOHK
Syllables
1 — folk
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /foʊk/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/foʊk/

British

/fəʊk/

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

Watch out

Where “folk” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    FOLK with an l

    the l is silent: it rhymes with woke

Meaning

What “folk” means

  1. noun

    people in general (often used in the plural)

    they're just country folk

  2. noun

    a social division of (usually preliterate) people

  3. noun

    people descended from a common ancestor

    his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower

Say it in a sentence

Local folk still gather at the old hall on Friday evenings.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

3 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

folk”, answered

How do you pronounce “folk”?

“folk” is pronounced /foʊk/ (FOHK) in American English and /fəʊk/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /foʊk/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “folk” have?

One, despite the 1 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /foʊk/ — a single beat.

Is “folk” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /foʊk/ (FOHK); British English says /fəʊk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “folk” mean?

As a noun: people in general (often used in the plural) For example: “they're just country folk” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “folk”?

One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /foʊk/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.

Practise this word

Now say “folk” 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.