poem
noun · a piece of writing in lines, often with rhythm or rhyme
- POHpoʊ (stressed)
- uməm
- POHpəʊ (stressed)
- imɪm
- US /ˈpoʊ.əm/POH-um Recorded voice
- UK /ˈpəʊ.ɪm/POH-im Your device’s voice
How to pronounce poem
Poem is pronounced POH-um in American English and POH-im in British English. It has two syllables with the stress on the first. Start with the long o of go, then add a short, weak second syllable.
- 2 syllables
- Stress on POH
- 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.
Poem, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈpoʊ.əm/
POHstressed
- /p/as in pen
- /oʊ/as in go (US)
um
- /ə/as in about
- /m/as in man
UK British English/ˈpəʊ.ɪm/
POHstressed
- /p/as in pen
- /əʊ/as in go (UK)
im
- /ɪ/as in sit
- /m/as in man
Say poem yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes poem, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Keep two syllables: POH, then a short um. Don't squeeze it into one syllable.
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
Say it
Say this word
poem
Compare
Ours
Yours
Your recording stays in this tab. It is gone when you leave the page.
Common poem pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say POH-um.
Not
POHMSqueezing the word into one syllable, rhyming with home. Dictionaries give two: POH-um.
Not
poh-EMStressing the second syllable, as in Spanish poema. Put the beat on POH and keep um weak.
Not
POMReading po as in pot and dropping a vowel. Start with the o of go.
Poem 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.
We had to learn a poem by heart at school.
He read a short poem at the wedding.
This poem has only four lines.
Is poem one syllable or two?
Two. Poem has two vowel sounds side by side: the long o of go, then a weak um or im. The letters o and e do not join into one vowel here, just as they do not in poet and poetry.
The word goes back to the Greek poiēma, a thing made, from poiein, to make. It came into English through Latin poema and French poème, and its two separate vowels came with it.
In fast, casual American speech the two syllables can run together, close to POHM. Cambridge and Oxford list only two syllables. British English ends in im, American English in um. Say a clear POH, then add the short ending.
Words that sound like poem
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
Say words like poem out loud with Slova
In Slova you say new words out loud in every lesson, at your level, in lessons built around what you love.