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How to pronounce soften

Soften is pronounced SAH-fun in American English and SOF-un in British English. It has two syllables with the stress on the first, and the t is silent, as in often.

Say it yourself
  • 2 syllables
  • Stress on SAH
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

soften

Two syllables, stress on the first

verb · to become softer, or to make something softer

  1. SAHsɑː (stressed)
  2. funfən
  • US /ˈsɑː.fən/SAH-fun Recorded voice
  • UK /ˈsɒf.ən/SOF-un Your device’s voice

Also said: US /ˈsɔː.fən/.

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford gives /ˈsɔːfn/ for American English, with the vowel of law. Both forms are normal. The recording is American English.

Soften, sound by sound

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

US American English/ˈsɑː.fən/

  1. SAHstressed

    • /s/as in see
    • /ɑː/as in father

  2. fun

    • /f/as in fall
    • /ə/as in about
    • /n/as in now

UK British English/ˈsɒf.ən/

  1. SOFstressed

    • /s/as in see
    • /ɒ/as in hot (UK)
    • /f/as in fall

  2. un

    • /ə/as in about
    • /n/as in now

Say soften yourself

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

Tip. The t is silent. Say SOF-un, not SOF-ten. The first vowel is ah (US) or o (UK).

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

Say it

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soften

    Common soften pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say SAH-fun.

    • NotSOF-ten

      Saying the t because it is written. Go straight from f to the weak un.

    • NotSOH-fun

      Using the oh of go. The vowel is ah or aw in the US, and short o in the UK.

    • Notsof-TEN

      Stressing the second syllable. The stress is on the first.

    Soften 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.

    • Heat will soften the butter in a minute.

    • A kind word can soften an angry face.

    • The rain began to soften the hard ground.

    Is the t in soften silent?

    Yes. The word is soft plus the ending -en, but the t is not said: SOF-un. This is the same group as listen, fasten and often, where a t between a consonant and a weak -en drops out.

    Often is different in one way. Some people do say the t in often, and the dictionaries list OFF-tun. For soften, Cambridge and Oxford list only the form without the t.

    In American English the first vowel is ah in Cambridge, but Oxford shows aw (SAW-fun); both are normal. In British English it is the short o of hot. Put your lips round for the vowel, then close them for f.

    Words that sound like soften

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

    More words with silent letters

    All 170 difficult words

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