Pronunciation

How to pronounce “rock

“rock” is pronounced /ɹɑk/ (RAHK) in American English and /ɹɒk/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “rock” in one beat

Say it like this

rock

/ɹɑk/

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

1 beat
  1. rockɹɑk
IPA (American)
/ɹɑk/
IPA (British)
/ɹɒk/
Respelling
RAHK
Syllables
1 — rock
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /ɹɑk/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Part of speech
noun, verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɹɑk/

British

/ɹɒk/

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

Meaning

What “rock” means

  1. noun

    a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter

    he threw a rock at me

  2. noun

    material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust

    that mountain is solid rock

  3. noun

    United States gynecologist and devout Catholic who conducted the first clinical trials of the oral contraceptive pill (1890-1984)

Say it in a sentence

The climbers scaled the steep rock face before sunset.
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

rock”, answered

How do you pronounce “rock”?

“rock” is pronounced /ɹɑk/ (RAHK) in American English and /ɹɒk/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /ɹɑk/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “rock” have?

One, despite the 1 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /ɹɑk/ — a single beat.

Is “rock” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɹɑk/ (RAHK); British English says /ɹɒk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “rock” mean?

As a noun: a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter For example: “he threw a rock at me” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “rock”?

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

Practise this word

Now say “rock” 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.