Slova
Comfortable is usually pronounced KUMF-ter-bl in American English and KUMF-tuh-bl in British English, with three syllables and the stress on the first. The four-syllable KUM-fer-tuh-bl (US) and KUM-fuh-tuh-bl (UK) is also correct.
comfortable
adjective · pleasant to wear, sit on or be in; relaxed
Also said: US /ˈkʌm.fɚ.t̬ə.bəl/; UK /ˈkʌm.fə.tə.bəl/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford lists only the three-syllable form. Cambridge lists the four-syllable form first. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈkʌmf.tɚ.bəl/
KUMFstressed
ter
bl
UK British English/ˈkʌmf.tə.bəl/
KUMFstressed
tuh
bl
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes comfortable, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Say three syllables: KUMF-ter-bl in the US, KUMF-tuh-bl in the UK. Com sounds like come.
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
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comfortable
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say KUMF-ter-bl.
Notkum-FOR-tay-bl
Stressing for and saying table like the furniture. Stress the first syllable and keep the end weak: tuh-bl.
NotKOM-fer-tuh-bl
Saying the o as in hot. Com sounds like come, with the vowel in cup.
NotKUM-fort-uh-bl
Saying fort like the word fort. The middle is weak: ter in American English, tuh in British English.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
These shoes are really comfortable.
Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back.
Are you comfortable speaking in front of people?
Written, comfortable has four syllables: com-for-ta-ble. In everyday speech most people say three, because the weak middle syllable drops out. Said carefully it has four, and that is the form Cambridge lists first.
The dictionaries differ. Oxford gives only the short form, KUMF-tuh-bl, for both accents. Cambridge lists the long form first. Either way, the stress stays on the first syllable.
The first syllable trips people up too. Com sounds like come, with the vowel of cup, as in other words where o sounds like u: some, money, mother.
English drops weak middle syllables in many everyday words, such as vegetable, chocolate and different. Use either length, but keep the end light: tuh-bl, never table.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
In Slova you say new words out loud in every lesson, at your level, in lessons built around what you love.