Attend means to be present at an event or place, or to pay attention to something or someone. It often implies active involvement or participation, as in attending a meeting or attending to a task. The verb can also convey intention and duty, such as adhering to needs or requirements. In grammar, attend typically governs to or at when indicating location or focus of attention.
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- You’ll hear people mistaking /əˈtænd/ or /æˈtend/ due to vowel confusion; aim for /əˈtend/ with a clear second syllable. - Sloppy /t/ or flapped /ɾ/ in American casual speech can blur the stop; practice the crisp alveolar stop before /ɛ/. - Reduced second syllable in rapid speech can shift to /əˈtend/ or /əˈtɛn/; maintain /e/ quality rather than /ɛn/.
US: keep vowel quality bright in the second syllable; /e/ is tense, not lax. UK: maintain a non-rhotic flow, with a clear /t/ release; schwa in first syllable remains. AU: broader vowel color, slight diphthong in the second syllable; avoid drawing out the /d/ too long. IPA cues: US /əˈtend/, UK /əˈtend/, AU /əˈtend/; ensure central schwa in first syllable and crisp alveolar stop before /ɛ/.
"She plans to attend the conference next week and will present her research."
"Please attend to the email and reply by end of day."
"The nurse will attend to the patient’s needs during the night shift."
"Only a few guests could attend the ceremony due to the weather."
Attend traces to the Old French attendre, from late Latin attender(e) ‘to stretch toward, stretch out to listen or wait’ and ultimately from Latin ad- ‘toward’ + tendere ‘to stretch, strive, go’. The sense of ‘to give heed to’ emerged in Middle English under the influence of the Latin root attendere, often confused with ‘to wait upon’ or ‘to wait for someone’. In English, attend broadened from literal presence at a place to figurative attention or care (attend to a task). By the 15th century, attend commonly meant to be present at events or to take care of duties, while the modern sense of focusing one’s attention developed alongside industrial-era expectations of service and supervision. The word’s pronunciation has remained fairly stable in English, with primary stress on the second syllable in most varieties (at-TEND). First known use in English appears in Middle English texts around the 14th century, with attender and attendant later emerging as related forms, reflecting the noun forms of the verb. Overall, the evolution reflects social expectations: presence, service, and attention coalescing into a compact verb of action and responsibility.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "attend" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "attend" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "attend"
-end sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
Pronounce as ə-TEND, with the primary stress on the second syllable. IPA US/UK/AU: /əˈtend/. Start with a relaxed, neutral schwa in the first syllable, then a clear, tense vowel for the second syllable. The tongue rises toward the middle to high position for /e/ and closes slightly for /n/ and /d/. In connected speech you’ll hear a light release after the /t/ before the /e/ vowel. Audio reference: [pronunciation resource links].
Common errors: (1) Overpronouncing the second syllable as /æ/ (attEND) instead of the proper /əˈtend/. (2) Slurring the /t/ into a flap or a stop without the clear /t/ release, making it sound like /əˈtɛn(d)/. (3) Misplacing stress as /ˈættend/ or spreading stress across both syllables. Corrections: keep the first syllable unstressed with a short schwa /ə/, push the main vowel into /ɛ/ in the second syllable, and ensure a crisp /t/ with a light but audible release before /e/. Practice with minimal pairs reinforcing /əˈtend/.
In US/UK/AU, /əˈtend/ remains the core pattern, but rhoticity affects surrounding speech in connected phrases. US speakers may tuck the schwa more toward a centralized /ɚ/ in rapid speech, while UK speakers maintain a clearer schwa before a short /eɪ/? No, /e/; typical is /əˈtend/. Australian English often features slightly broader vowel quality, with less reduction in unstressed syllables in careful speech. The main differences are vowel timbre and rhythm, not syllable count. Listen for the clean /t/ release and the strong second-syllable vowel across accents.
The challenge lies in the vowel in the first syllable (schwa) blending into a stressed second syllable with a tense /ɛ/ and a clean dental/alveolar /t/ release. Learners often over-articulate the first syllable or reduce the second vowel too much. Practical fix: hold a brief schwa in the first syllable, then snap the /t/ with a clear, brief release into the /ɛ/ vowel; keep the nucleus in the second syllable crisp and nasal-free.
There are no silent letters in attend, but the typical pattern is primary stress on the second syllable. The first syllable uses a reduced vowel (ə). The word is a clean trochaic pattern: /ə-ˈtend/. The pronunciation hinges on a strong /t/ release and a distinct /ɛ/ in the stressed syllable, not a silent letter issue. Mind the transitional rhythm in phrases like attend to or attend at.
🗣️ Voice search tip: These questions are optimized for voice search. Try asking your voice assistant any of these questions about "attend"!
- Shadowing: listen to a native speaker say sentences with attend; imitate exactly, including rhythm and intonation. - Minimal pairs: attend vs a tient? Actually pairs: attend vs tend (present vs not attend). Better: attend vs intend; attendance vs attendance? Use pairs: attend /əˈtend/ vs intend /ɪnˈtɛnd/. - Rhythm: keep weak-STRONG pattern: /ə-ˈtend/; practice across phrases like I will attend the meeting, Please attend to the task. - Stress practice: drill for 5-7 minutes daily: slow, then normal, then fast. - Recording: record yourself and compare to reference utterances; analyze the t-release and syllable duration.
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