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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “poverty”

“poverty” is pronounced /ˈpɑvɚti/ (PAH-vuh-tee) in American English and /pɒvəti/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pov”.
The sound

Say “poverty” in 3 beats

Say it like this

poverty

/ˈpɑvɚti/

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

3 beats
  1. povpɑstress
  2. ervɚ
  3. tyti
IPA (American)
/ˈpɑvɚti/
IPA (British)
/pɒvəti/
Respelling
PAH-vuh-tee
Syllables
3 — POV-er-ty
Stress
Stress the first syllable: POV-er-ty. “pov” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
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

/ˈpɑvɚti/

British

/pɒvəti/

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

Meaning

What “poverty” means

  1. noun

    the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions

Say it in a sentence

“The charity works to reduce poverty in coastal villages.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɑahvvɚschwattilong e

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

Questions

“poverty”, answered

How do you pronounce “poverty”?

“poverty” is pronounced /ˈpɑvɚti/ (PAH-vuh-tee) in American English and /pɒvəti/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pov”. Build it as POV-er-ty, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “poverty” have?

3: pov · er · ty. The beat lands on the first, “pov”.

Is “poverty” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpɑvɚti/ (PAH-vuh-tee); British English says /pɒvəti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “poverty” mean?

As a noun: the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions For example: “The charity works to reduce poverty in coastal villages.”

Where is the stress in “poverty”?

Stress the first syllable: POV-er-ty. “pov” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “poverty” and see every sound

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