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How to pronounce gauge

Gauge is pronounced GAYJ, to rhyme with page and cage. It has one syllable. The u is silent, the first g is hard as in go, and the last g is soft like j. It is the same in American and British English.

Say it yourself
  • 1 syllable
  • Stress on GAYJ
  • Sounds like gage
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

gauge

One syllable

noun and verb · an instrument that measures an amount; to judge or estimate something

  1. GAYJɡeɪdʒ (stressed)
  • US /ɡeɪdʒ/GAYJ Recorded voice
  • UK /ɡeɪdʒ/GAYJ Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Gauge, sound by sound

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

USUK American and British English/ɡeɪdʒ/

  1. GAYJstressed

    • /ɡ/as in get
    • /eɪ/as in day
    • /dʒ/as in jam

Say gauge yourself

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

Tip. It rhymes with page. The u is silent.

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

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gauge

    Common gauge pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say GAYJ.

    • NotGAWJ

      Reading au as in cause. In gauge it is ay, as in day.

    • NotGOWJ

      Reading au as ow, as in German words. Skip the u and say GAYJ.

    • NotGAYG

      Making the last g hard. A g before e is soft here, like the end of page.

    Gauge 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 fuel gauge says we're almost empty.

    • It's hard to gauge how people will react.

    • These trains run on a narrow gauge.

    Why is gauge spelled with au?

    Gauge came into English from Norman French, the French used in England after 1066. Modern French writes the related verb jauger. English kept the old au spelling, but the vowel became ay.

    That makes gauge unusual. In English, au normally sounds like aw, as in cause, taught and author. Gauge is one of very few words where it sounds like ay.

    American English also allows the spelling gage, which matches the sound. When you see gauge, read it as if the u were not there: gage, to rhyme with page.

    Words that sound like gauge

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

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