How to pronounce

Bereave pronunciation

/bɚ.ˈiv/
bur-EEV

Bereave has 2 syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, "eev". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.

Say bereave and check it

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Accent

Press record, say "bereave" once or twice at normal speed, then stop. You will see which syllables matched and what to change.

Bereave syllables

Bereave has 2 syllables: bur-EEV.

  1. bur
  2. EEViv

Stress "reev": buh-REEV.

Sounds to watch

The v sound

Rest your top teeth on your bottom lip and add voice. Keep it distinct from w, which uses rounded lips and no teeth.

The er vowel

American er (as in her) is a single vowel with the tongue bunched back. Keep the r quality through the whole vowel.

Bereave in a sentence

  • The accident would bereave two families in one night.
  • Nothing prepares you for how loss can bereave a community.

Read either sentence into the recorder above. The check judges only the target word, so the rest of the sentence can be rough.

What Speakeroo listens for

These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.

  • /v/ and /w/ confusedUse teeth-on-lip contact for /v/ and rounded lips without contact for /w/.
  • Final consonant devoicedKeep the vocal folds vibrating through voiced endings such as /b/, /d/, /g/ and /z/.
  • Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.

Questions

How do you pronounce bereave?

Bereave is pronounced /bɚ.ˈiv/, or bur-EEV in plain letters. It has 2 syllables and the stress falls on the second syllable, "eev".

How many syllables are in bereave?

2: bur-EEV. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.

How do you use bereave in a sentence?

The accident would bereave two families in one night. Nothing prepares you for how loss can bereave a community.

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