One syllable: care.
ker
/kɛɹ/
care is pronounced ker (/kɛɹ/). It has one syllable (care), with the stress on "care". Care denotes concern or interest for someone or something, and can also mean to look after or provide for. It functions as a noun or verb in everyday speech, conveying attention, tenderness, or responsibility. In different contexts it can express caution, risk assessment, or consideration, and it often collocates with terms like ‘take care,’ ‘care about,’ or ‘careful.’.
Care denotes concern or interest for someone or something, and can also mean to look after or provide for. It functions as a noun or verb in everyday speech, conveying attention, tenderness, or responsibility. In different contexts it can express caution, risk assessment, or consideration, and it often collocates with terms like ‘take care,’ ‘care about,’ or ‘careful.’
"I take care of my plants every morning and check their soil moisture."
"She spoke with great care to avoid offending anyone."
"If you’re not sure, it’s wise to err on the side of care and safety."
Pronounce it as a single syllable with the vowel sound /ɛər/ in many dialects, commonly realized as /ker/ in US English and /keə/ in UK/AU English. Start with a mid-open jaw, relaxed lips, and a quick, steady onset of /k/ followed by the vowel nucleus. In connected speech, the /r/ in US accents is pronounced before a consonant or vowel, but often not in non-rhotic UK/AU speech, while the vowel can be elongated slightly in UK/AU. Listen for the short, crisp final, as in ‘careful’ without prolonging the vowel excessively.
Common errors include pronouncing it as /kar/ with a hard, flat /r/ in US typical dialects, or reducing the vowel to a lax /ə/ as in ‘ker’ without the proper glide. Another error is turning it into /keɪə/ with an offglide, overemphasizing the second syllable; keep it compact. To correct: ensure a short, crisp /e/ followed by a lighter /r/ or /ə/ glide, depending on the accent, and avoid over-elongating the vowel. Practice with minimal pairs like care vs. cater to hear the difference in vowel length and rhoticity.
In US English, care is often /ker/ with a rhotic /r/; the vowel quality is a schwa-like or mid-front rounded offglide depending on the speaker. In UK English (RP), it’s typically /keə/, a longer, diphthongal vowel without pronounced rhotic /r/. In Australian English, you’ll hear /keə/ as well but with a slightly more centralized or higher tongue position and a non-fully rhotic tendency; listeners may perceive a mild vowel lengthening, especially before voiceless consonants. Overall, US favors a rhotic, shorter vowel; UK/AU favor a lengthier, unrhotic diphthong.
Difficulty stems from vowel quality and rhoticity differences across dialects. In US, balancing a short, crisp /ɪ/ or /ər/ tap may feel abrupt if the following word begins with a consonant; in UK/AU, the non-rhotic realization /keə/ demands tongue positioning for a longer diphthong that can blur with surrounding vowels. The subtle mouth shaping for the /k/ onset plus the precise tongue height for the nucleus is easy to misplace under rapid speech, leading to a less distinct /eə/ or mistaken /ɪ/ or /ɛ/.
Focus on the transition from the hard /k/ onset to the vowel nucleus. In many contexts, the nucleus breathes into a short, sharp vowel in US English, while UK/AU users sustain a longer /eə/ diphthong. Pay attention to the presence or absence of rhoticity in your dialect and practice the exact tongue and lip positions: the back-of-the-mouth retraction for /k/ and the jaw openness for the /e/ or /eə/ nucleus. Emphasize the word’s single syllable and its clean, quick release.
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Care derives from the Old English word carian, which meant to lament or grieve, related to sorrow or anxiety about someone. Its semantic range broadened in Middle English to include concern and attentiveness; by the 14th century, care commonly referred to what one does to tend to someone’s needs. The root lineage traces to Proto-Germanic *kara- or *kar- (sorrow, lament) linked with Proto-Indo-European *kar- (to grieve or worry). In the transition from sorrow to attention, care gained social and moral weight—“take care” became a phrase invoking responsibility and caution. The verb form gained frequent collocations with caregiving and everyday action (“care for,” “care about,” “carefully”). Over centuries, the verb also extended to mean medical or protective action, as in “care for the sick” and “care for one’s safety.” In modern usage, care is versatile, balancing emotional concern with practical responsibility, and remains a central term in ethics, parenting, and personal relationships. First known written usages appear in early Middle English medical and domestic texts, with broader colloquial adoption by the late medieval period. The word has retained a compact pronunciation, with a long-standing phonetic stability in non-rhotic and rhotic varieties, while semantic breadth expanded through social and cultural changes.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "care" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "care"
-are sounds
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