HOW TO PRONOUNCE
afford
/əˈfɔɹd/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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Start with a light vowel.
The first a is schwa here, and the second syllable carries the main stress. Keep the American r before the final d without adding another syllable.
2 syllables · Stress on syllable 2
TRY SAYING
“We can afford a short vacation.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does afford mean?
verb
- To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious; (usually after an expression of ability, as could, able, difficult) to be able or rich enough; to spare.
- To give, grant, or confer, with a remoter reference to its being the natural result; to provide; to furnish.
More meanings (2)
verb
- (obsolete) To offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting or expending, with profit, or without too great a loss.
- (rare) To give forth; to supply, yield, or produce as the natural result, fruit, or issue.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/əˈfɔɹd/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
One of the weak sides of republics, among their numerous advantages, is that they afford too easy an inlet to foreign corruption.
How came there to be so much love in this desolate old heart, that it could afford to well over thus abundantly?
More book examples (3)
We may imagine that an ordinary thermometer would afford no result under the circumstances in which this instrument was to be exposed.
A man in the full swing of his activities in a gay city could not afford to linger long on Egdon Heath.
“But it’s likely he thinks if he gets anything it will be from a woman who can afford it, as I did.”