How to pronounce “graduate”
“graduate” is said two ways
/ˈɡɹædʒəwət/
GRAJ-oo-uht
The person with the degree. Ends in a reduced -uht.
/ˈɡɹædʒəˌweɪt/
GRAJ-oo-ayt
To finish a course. Ends in a full -ayt.
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: “She will graduate in June, the first graduate in her family.”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 “graduate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the noun and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “graduate” in 3 beats
graduate
/ˈɡɹædʒəwət/
Everything in this card describes the noun form. As a verb it is /ˈɡɹædʒəˌweɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈɡɹadjuːət/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- gradɡɹæstress
- uatdʒə
- ewət
- IPA (American)
- /ˈɡɹædʒəwət/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈɡɹadjuːət/
- Respelling
- GRAJ-oo-uht (noun) · GRAJ-oo-ayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 3 — GRAD-uat-e
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: GRAD-uat-e. “grad” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
This is the noun form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/ˈɡɹædʒəwət/
/ˈɡɹadjuːət/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “graduate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“a GRAJ-oo-ayt programme”
the noun and the adjective end in -uht; only the verb ends in -ayt
What “graduate” means
- noun
a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university)
- noun
a measuring instrument for measuring fluid volume; a glass container (cup or cylinder or flask) whose sides are marked with or divided into amounts
- verb
receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies
“She graduated in 1990”
Say it in a sentence
“She will graduate in June, the first graduate in her family.”“graduate”, answered
How do you pronounce “graduate”?
“graduate” has two pronunciations: /ˈɡɹædʒəwət/ as a noun and /ˈɡɹædʒəˌweɪt/ 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 noun form. Build it as GRAD-uat-e, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “graduate” have?
3: grad · uat · e. The beat lands on the first, “grad”.
Which pronunciation of “graduate” is correct?
Both are. /ˈɡɹædʒəwət/ (GRAJ-oo-uht) as a noun; /ˈɡɹædʒəˌweɪt/ (GRAJ-oo-ayt) 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: “She will graduate in June, the first graduate in her family.”
Is “graduate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈɡɹædʒəwət/ (GRAJ-oo-uht); British English says /ˈɡɹadjuːət/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “graduate” mean?
As a noun: a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) For example: “She will graduate in June, the first graduate in her family.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “graduate”?
Stress the first syllable: GRAD-uat-e. “grad” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “graduate” 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.