How to pronounce “headquarters”
Say “headquarters” in 3 beats
headquarters
/ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹtɚz/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /hɛdkwɔːtəz/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- headhɛdstress
- quarkwɔɹ
- terstɚz
- IPA (American)
- /ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹtɚz/
- IPA (British)
- /hɛdkwɔːtəz/
- Also accepted
- /ˈhɛdˌkɔɹtɚz/
- Respelling
- HED-kwawr-tuhz
- Syllables
- 3 — HEAD-quar-ters
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: HEAD-quar-ters. “head” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹtɚz/
/hɛdkwɔːtəz/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “headquarters” means
- noun
(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
“many companies have their headquarters in New York”
- noun
the military installation from which a commander performs the functions of command
“the general's headquarters were a couple of large tents”
- noun
(plural) a military unit consisting of a commander and the headquarters staff
Say it in a sentence
“The company moved its headquarters to a smaller building.”“headquarters”, answered
How do you pronounce “headquarters”?
“headquarters” is pronounced /ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹtɚz/ (HED-kwawr-tuhz) in American English and /hɛdkwɔːtəz/ in British English, and /ˈhɛdˌkɔɹtɚz/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “head”. Build it as HEAD-quar-ters, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “headquarters” have?
3: head · quar · ters. The beat lands on the first, “head”.
Is “headquarters” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹtɚz/ (HED-kwawr-tuhz); British English says /hɛdkwɔːtəz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “headquarters” mean?
As a noun: (usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise For example: “many companies have their headquarters in New York” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “headquarters”?
Stress the first syllable: HEAD-quar-ters. “head” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “headquarters” 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.