Slova
Pomegranate is pronounced PAH-muh-gran-it in American English and POM-ih-gran-it in British English. It has four syllables with the main stress on the first. The end sounds like granite, not like gran-ate. Some Americans say three syllables: PUM-gran-it.
pomegranate
noun · a round fruit with a thick red skin and many juicy seeds
Also said: US /ˈpʌm.ɡræn.ɪt/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Cambridge also lists a three-syllable American form, /ˈpʌm.ɡræn.ɪt/ (PUM-gran-it). The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈpɑː.məˌɡræn.ɪt/
PAHstressed
muh
gran
it
UK British English/ˈpɒm.ɪˌɡræn.ɪt/
POMstressed
ih
gran
it
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes pomegranate, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. End with it, as in granite. The last syllable is not nate.
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pomegranate
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say PAH-muh-gran-it.
NotPOM-ih-gran-ayt
Saying the end like late. In this noun the -ate is weak: it.
Notpom-ih-GRAN-it
Moving the main stress to gran. Gran gets a lighter beat; the strongest is on the first syllable.
NotPOHM-gran-ayt
Reading pome with the o of home. The first vowel is PAH (US) or POM (UK).
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
Cut the pomegranate in half and tap out the seeds.
We added pomegranate seeds to the salad.
Pomegranate juice stains everything it touches.
The name means seeded apple. It came from Old French pome grenate, from the Latin pōmum, fruit or apple, and grānātum, full of seeds. Medieval English spelled it dozens of ways, from pomegarnet to poungarnet, before pomegranate won.
The -ate at the end is unstressed, so it shrinks to it, as in granite, climate and private. This follows a general English pattern: -ate in a noun or adjective is usually weak, while -ate in a verb is ayt. Compare the adjective separate, SEP-uh-rit, with the verb, SEP-uh-rayt.
The main stress goes on the first syllable, with a lighter stress on gran. The first vowel differs: PAH in American English, POM in British English.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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