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How to pronounce autumn

Autumn is pronounced AH-tum in American English and AW-tum in British English. It has two syllables with the stress on the first, and the N at the end is silent.

Say it yourself
  • 2 syllables
  • Stress on AH
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

autumn

Two syllables, stress on the first

noun · the season between summer and winter, when leaves fall from the trees

  1. AHɑː (stressed)
  2. tumt̬əm
  • US /ˈɑː.t̬əm/AH-tum Recorded voice
  • UK /ˈɔː.təm/AW-tum Your device’s voice

Also said: US /ˈɔː.t̬əm/.

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford lists /ˈɔːtəm/ (AW-tum) for American English too. The recording is American English.

Autumn, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

US American English/ˈɑː.t̬əm/

  1. AHstressed

    • /ɑː/as in father

  2. tum

    • /t̬/as in water (US)
    • /ə/as in about
    • /m/as in man

UK British English/ˈɔː.təm/

  1. AWstressed

    • /ɔː/as in saw

  2. tum

    • /t/as in tea
    • /ə/as in about
    • /m/as in man

Say autumn yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes autumn, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. Stop on the M. The N at the end is silent, so tum, not tumn.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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autumn

    Common autumn pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say AH-tum.

    • NotAW-tumn

      Saying the N after the M. End the word on the M sound and stop.

    • NotOW-tum

      Reading au as in the German or Spanish word auto. In autumn, au is the vowel in law, or in father for many Americans.

    • Notaw-TUM

      Stressing the second syllable. Put the weight on the first and keep tum short and weak.

    Autumn in a sentence

    Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.

    • The leaves turn red and gold in autumn.

    • We moved to Leeds in the autumn of 2019.

    • Americans usually say fall, but they understand autumn too.

    Is the n in autumn silent?

    Yes. When a word ends in mn, English says the M and drops the N. Autumn, column, hymn, solemn and condemn all work this way.

    The N is in the spelling because of the word's history. English took it from French automne, and French took it from Latin autumnus. Add an ending that starts with a vowel and the N comes back: autumnal is said aw-TUM-nl.

    In American English the T often turns into a quick D sound, so you may hear AH-dum. Many Americans also say AW-tum, and Oxford lists that form. Whichever vowel you use, close your lips on the M and stop there.

    Words that sound like autumn

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

    More words with silent letters

    All 170 difficult words

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