Pronunciation

How to pronounce “mauve

“mauve” is pronounced /moʊv/ (MOHV) in American English and /məʊv/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “mauve” in one beat

Say it like this

mauve

/moʊv/

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

1 beat
  1. mauvemoʊv
IPA (American)
/moʊv/
IPA (British)
/məʊv/
Respelling
MOHV
Syllables
1 — mauve
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /moʊv/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/moʊv/

British

/məʊv/

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

Watch out

Where “mauve” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    MAWV/mɔv/

    it rhymes with cove, not with the vowel of law

Meaning

What “mauve” means

  1. noun

    a moderate purple

  2. adjective

    of a pale to moderate greyish violet color

Say it in a sentence

She painted the hallway a soft mauve that changed with the light.
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

mauve”, answered

How do you pronounce “mauve”?

“mauve” is pronounced /moʊv/ (MOHV) in American English and /məʊv/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /moʊv/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “mauve” have?

One, despite the 3 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /moʊv/ — a single beat.

Is “mauve” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /moʊv/ (MOHV); British English says /məʊv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “mauve” mean?

As a noun: a moderate purple For example: “She painted the hallway a soft mauve that changed with the light.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “mauve”?

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

Practise this word

Now say “mauve” 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.