How to pronounce Poetry
Poetry has 3 syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, "poh". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Press record, say "poetry" once or twice at normal speed, then stop. You will see which syllables matched and what to change.
Poetry syllables
Poetry has 3 syllables: POH-uh-tree.
- POHpoʊ
- uhə
- treetri
Three syllables: POH-uh-tree. Do not add a strong "e" in the middle.
Sounds to watch
The r sound
Pull the tongue back and up without touching the roof of the mouth. American r is never rolled or tapped.
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Gliding vowels
The ay and oh vowels glide: start on one sound and slide into a short ee or oo. Cutting them short makes them sound like eh and aw.
Poetry in a sentence
- She reads poetry aloud every morning to warm up her voice.
- The poetry section is at the back of the shop.
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.
- Stress placed on the wrong syllableMake the correct syllable longer, clearer and more prominent.
- /r/ distorted or unclearUse the selected accent’s tongue shape without pressing the tongue against the palate.
- 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 poetry?
Poetry is pronounced /ˈpoʊ.ə.tri/, or POH-uh-tree in plain letters. It has 3 syllables and the stress falls on the first syllable, "poh".
How many syllables are in poetry?
3: POH-uh-tree. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use poetry in a sentence?
She reads poetry aloud every morning to warm up her voice. The poetry section is at the back of the shop.
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