HOW TO PRONOUNCE
apostrophe
/əˈpɑstɹəˌfi/
Press play to hear how to pronounce apostrophe.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:41
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LISTEN FOR THIS
Stress “pos” and pronounce the final “ee.”
Use four syllables and a light opening vowel. Keep the ph as an f sound before the final ee, and give the second syllable more stress than the ending.
4 syllables · Stress on syllable 2
TRY SAYING
“An apostrophe marks the missing letters.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does apostrophe mean?
noun
- The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.
- A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.
- An arrangement of chlorophyll grains perpendicular to the outer surface of plant cells, as opposed to epistrophe (an arrangement on the outer surface).
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/əˈpɑstɹəˌfi/
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.
Before she reached the house, Gouvernail had lighted a fresh cigar and ended his apostrophe to the night.
I have never seen two men look more oddly at one another than Mr. Jaggers and Wemmick did after this apostrophe.
More book examples (3)
Mr. Pitt, who overheard this cruel apostrophe, called out, "Et moi, Monsieur Alt, Je vous f`elicite; les Russes sont battus."
The poet’s apostrophe to his wife in the spirit-world, which closes the long prologue to ‘The Ring and the Book’ (vv.
“Poor William! He has met with great kindness from the chaplain of the Antwerp,” was a tender apostrophe of Fanny’s, very much to the purpose of her own feelings if not of the conversation.