crochet
noun and verb · a way of making cloth by looping yarn with a hooked needle; to make things this way
- krohkroʊ
- SHAYʃeɪ (stressed)
- KROHkrəʊ (stressed)
- shayʃeɪ
- US /kroʊˈʃeɪ/kroh-SHAY Recorded voice
- UK /ˈkrəʊ.ʃeɪ/KROH-shay Your device’s voice
How to pronounce crochet
Crochet is pronounced kroh-SHAY in American English and KROH-shay in British English. It has two syllables, the ch is a SH sound, and the final t is silent. The two accents put the stress on different syllables.
- 2 syllables
- Stress on SHAY
- US and UK IPA
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Crochet, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/kroʊˈʃeɪ/
kroh
- /k/as in cat
- /r/as in red
- /oʊ/as in go (US)
SHAYstressed
- /ʃ/as in shoe
- /eɪ/as in day
UK British English/ˈkrəʊ.ʃeɪ/
KROHstressed
- /k/as in cat
- /r/as in red
- /əʊ/as in go (UK)
shay
- /ʃ/as in shoe
- /eɪ/as in day
Say crochet yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes crochet, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. The ch is SH and the t is silent: shay. Americans stress SHAY, British speakers stress KROH.
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Common crochet pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say kroh-SHAY.
Not
KROTCH-itReading it like the English word crotchet. Crochet has no t sound and no tch.
Not
KROH-chetSaying ch as in chair and saying the t. Use SH and end on ay: shay.
Not
kroh-SHETKeeping the t. The French -et here is said ay, as in ballet.
Crochet 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.
She gave me a crochet blanket for my birthday.
I crochet on the train to work.
Can you teach me how to crochet a hat?
Why is crochet said with sh and no t?
Crochet is a French word meaning a small hook, from croc, a hook. English kept two French habits in it: ch is said SH, and the final t is silent. You hear the same in ballet, bouquet and buffet.
The accents differ on stress. American English keeps the stress at the end, as it often does with French words: kroh-SHAY. British English moves it to the front: KROH-shay. Ballet works the same way, ba-LAY in the US and BAL-ay in the UK.
The same goes for crocheting: kroh-SHAY-ing in the US, KROH-shay-ing in the UK. Don't mix crochet up with crotchet, KROTCH-it, a British word for a musical note.
Words that sound like crochet
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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