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    Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

    How to pronounce “contract”

    KON-trakt

    2 syllables · stress on “KON”

    KONtrakt
    Britishˈkɒntrækt
    Americanˈkɑːntrækt

    In short

    “contract” is pronounced KON-trakt: 2 syllables, with the stress on “KON”. The noun (an agreement) is common in business English; the verb (to shrink, or to catch an illness) is much rarer, so the pair is rarely heard side by side. The version to avoid is kun-TRAKT for the legal document.

    Say “contract” in 3 steps

    1. 1Noun: KON-trakt — a signed agreement.
    2. 2Verb: kun-TRAKT — to shrink, or to catch a disease.
    3. 3Keep the /tr/ cluster tight in both; do not insert a vowel between t and r.

    The version to avoid

    Commonly said as: kun-TRAKT for the legal document

    The noun (an agreement) is common in business English; the verb (to shrink, or to catch an illness) is much rarer, so the pair is rarely heard side by side.

    “contract” as a verb

    Used when contract means to shrink, tighten or catch an illness.

    kun-TRAKT

    kənˈtrækt · stress on “TRAKT”

    kunTRAKT

    Hear real people say it

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    Real speakers

    3 human recordings

    Actual people saying “contract”, not a synthetic voice. Real speech varies — that variation is what you need to recognise, and what a single model voice cannot show you.

    Recordings from Wikimedia Commons by No machine-readable author provided. Tomhannen assumed (based on copyright claims). and Dvortygirl, licensed under Public domain / CC BY-SA 3.0. Full credits.

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    Three speakers per accent

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    The sounds inside this word

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    kk as in keyɒo as in hotnn as in nott as in tearr as in redæa as in cat

    More words that change with stress

    Same pattern, same fix. Learning them as a group is far faster than one at a time.

    presentPREZ-untrecordREK-ordobjectOB-jiktsubjectSUB-jiktprojectPROJ-ektincreaseIN-krees

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    Frequently asked questions

    How do you pronounce contract?
    contract is pronounced KON-trakt, written /ˈkɒntrækt/ in IPA. Noun: KON-trakt — a signed agreement.
    How many syllables are in contract?
    two: KON-trakt. The stress falls on “KON”.
    What is the most common mistake with contract?
    kun-TRAKT for the legal document. The noun (an agreement) is common in business English; the verb (to shrink, or to catch an illness) is much rarer, so the pair is rarely heard side by side.
    Does contract change as a verb?
    Yes. Used when contract means to shrink, tighten or catch an illness. That form is pronounced kun-TRAKT, /kənˈtrækt/ in IPA.

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