Cacao pronunciation
Cacao has 2 syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, "kow". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Cacao syllables
Cacao has 2 syllables: kuh-KOW.
- kuhkə
- KOWkaʊ
Kuh-KOW, stress on the second syllable, rhyming with "now". It is not "cocoa" with the letters swapped — the word for the raw bean has its own sound.
Sounds to watch
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Cacao in a sentence
- The recipe calls for raw cacao rather than cocoa powder.
- Cacao trees only grow within twenty degrees of the equator.
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.
- Vowel influenced too strongly by spellingLearn the sound using IPA and audio rather than pronouncing every written vowel.
- Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
- Diphthong flattened into one vowelMove smoothly between both vowel positions.
- Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.
Questions
How do you pronounce cacao?
Cacao is pronounced /kə.ˈkaʊ/, or kuh-KOW in plain letters. It has 2 syllables and the stress falls on the second syllable, "kow".
How many syllables are in cacao?
2: kuh-KOW. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use cacao in a sentence?
The recipe calls for raw cacao rather than cocoa powder. Cacao trees only grow within twenty degrees of the equator.
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