How to pronounce borrowed in American English

IPA /ˈbɑroʊd/ Syllables 2 · bah·rohd Stress 1st syllable

BAH·rohd

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Americans pronounce borrowed as BAH-rohd (/ˈbɑroʊd/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch BAH — keep everything else short and quick.

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Why it sounds different

Why "borrowed" sounds like BAH·rohd.

The "t" at the end of "" links to the vowel starting "" — it flaps to sound like a quick "d", with the tongue briefly tapping the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T Across Words, how Americans glue words together so they sound like one phrase. So instead of BAH·roht, you get BAH·rohd.

In real conversation

Hear "borrowed" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"She borrowed a pen from her classmate during the pop quiz."

shee BAH·rohd uh PEHN fruhm her KLAS·mayt DUUR·uhng dhuh PAHP KWIHZ

"She borrowed a stack of biographies from the public library."

shee BAH·rohd uh STAK uhv bahy·AH·gruh·feez fruhm dhuh PUH·bluhk LAHY·brair·ee

Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch BAH — keep everything else short and quick.

bah·ROHD→BAH·rohd

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "borrowed" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the first syllable — say "BAH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "BAH-rohd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Is the American pronunciation of "borrowed" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "BAH-rohd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Why "borrowed" sounds like BAH·rohd.

Hear "borrowed" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Questions people ask about this.

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