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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “paraphrase”

“paraphrase” is pronounced /ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/ (PE-ruh-frayz) in American English and /paɹəfɹeɪz/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pɛ”.
The sound

Say “paraphrase” in 3 beats

Say it like this

paraphrase

/ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/

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

3 beats
  1. pɛpɛstress
  2. ɹəɹə
  3. fɹeɪzfɹeɪz
IPA (American)
/ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/
IPA (British)
/paɹəfɹeɪz/
Respelling
PE-ruh-frayz
Syllables
3 — PƐ-ɹə-fɹeɪz
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PƐ-ɹə-fɹeɪz. “pɛ” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/

British

/paɹəfɹeɪz/

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

Meaning

What “paraphrase” means

  1. noun

    rewording for the purpose of clarification

  2. verb

    express the same message in different words

Say it in a sentence

“Paraphrase the idea rather than quoting the whole sentence.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɛshort eɹr×2əschwaffeɪlong azz

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“paraphrase”, answered

How do you pronounce “paraphrase”?

“paraphrase” is pronounced /ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/ (PE-ruh-frayz) in American English and /paɹəfɹeɪz/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pɛ”. Build it as PƐ-ɹə-fɹeɪz, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “paraphrase” have?

3: pɛ · ɹə · fɹeɪz. The beat lands on the first, “pɛ”.

Is “paraphrase” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpɛɹəˌfɹeɪz/ (PE-ruh-frayz); British English says /paɹəfɹeɪz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “paraphrase” mean?

As a noun: rewording for the purpose of clarification For example: “Paraphrase the idea rather than quoting the whole sentence.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “paraphrase”?

Stress the first syllable: PƐ-ɹə-fɹeɪz. “pɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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