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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “recovery”

“recovery” is pronounced /ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/ (rih-KUV-uh-ree), and /ɹɪˈkʌvɚi/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ov”.
The sound

Say “recovery” in 4 beats

Say it like this

recovery

/ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

4 beats
  1. recɹɪ
  2. ovkʌstress
  3. ervə
  4. yɹi
IPA (American)
/ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/
IPA (British)
/ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/
Also accepted
/ɹɪˈkʌvɚi/
Respelling
rih-KUV-uh-ree
Syllables
4 — rec-OV-er-y
Stress
Stress the second syllable: rec-OV-er-y. “ov” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Watch out

Where “recovery” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    “REE-cov-ery”

    the stress is on KUV, with the vowel of cup

Meaning

What “recovery” means

  1. noun

    return to an original state

    “the recovery of the forest after the fire was surprisingly rapid”

  2. noun

    gradual healing (through rest) after sickness or injury

  3. noun

    the act of regaining or saving something lost (or in danger of becoming lost)

Say it in a sentence

“His recovery after the accident took most of a year.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ɹr×2ɪshort ikkʌshort uvvəschwailong e

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

Questions

“recovery”, answered

How do you pronounce “recovery”?

“recovery” is pronounced /ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/ (rih-KUV-uh-ree), and /ɹɪˈkʌvɚi/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ov”. Build it as rec-OV-er-y, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “recovery” have?

4: rec · ov · er · y. The beat lands on the second, “ov”.

Is “recovery” /ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/ or /ɹɪˈkʌvɚi/?

Both. /ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/ is the form dictionaries list first (rih-KUV-uh-ree).

What does “recovery” mean?

As a noun: return to an original state For example: “the recovery of the forest after the fire was surprisingly rapid” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “recovery”?

Stress the second syllable: rec-OV-er-y. “ov” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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