Pronunciation

How to pronounce “talk

“talk” is pronounced /tɔk/ (TAWK) in American English and /tɔːk/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “talk” in one beat

Say it like this

talk

/tɔk/

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

1 beat
  1. talktɔk
IPA (American)
/tɔk/
IPA (British)
/tɔːk/
Respelling
TAWK
Syllables
1 — talk
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /tɔk/ 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

/tɔk/

British

/tɔːk/

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

Meaning

What “talk” means

  1. noun

    an exchange of ideas via conversation

    let's have more work and less talk around here

  2. noun

    discussion; (`talk about' is a less formal alternative for `discussion of')

    his poetry contains much talk about love and anger

  3. noun

    the act of giving a talk to an audience

    I attended an interesting talk on local history

Say it in a sentence

We should talk about the budget before the meeting starts.
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

talk”, answered

How do you pronounce “talk”?

“talk” is pronounced /tɔk/ (TAWK) in American English and /tɔːk/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /tɔk/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “talk” have?

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

Is “talk” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /tɔk/ (TAWK); British English says /tɔːk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “talk” mean?

As a noun: an exchange of ideas via conversation For example: “let's have more work and less talk around here” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “talk”?

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

Practise this word

Now say “talk” 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.