One syllable: check.
chek
/tʃɛk/
check is pronounced chek (/tʃɛk/). It has one syllable (check), with the stress on "check". Check is a short, voiceless plosive followed by a high-front lax vowel, used to denote examination or validation, and as a verb meaning to examine or to stop something in its tracks. In everyday speech it often functions as a quick, clipped word with crisp consonant release. It appears in commands, assessments, and informal approvals, reflecting its utility in precise, concise communication.
Check is a short, voiceless plosive followed by a high-front lax vowel, used to denote examination or validation, and as a verb meaning to examine or to stop something in its tracks. In everyday speech it often functions as a quick, clipped word with crisp consonant release. It appears in commands, assessments, and informal approvals, reflecting its utility in precise, concise communication.
- You may lengthen the vowel or add a voiced component at the end (e.g., /tʃeɡ/ or /tʃɛk/). Keep it short, crisp, and voiceless with a hard /k/ release. - Some learners vocalize the final consonant or insert a schwa before /k/: practice by isolating the /k/ and ensuring no vowel comes before it in the final position. - A common slip is turning /tʃ/ into a /dʒ/ sound (as in "j-echo"), which makes the word sound like "jeck". It should be the hard j sound followed by a clean /k/.
"- Please check your work before submitting it to avoid errors."
"- The manager will check on the progress of the project this afternoon."
"- He asked me to check the weather before we left."
Pronounce it as /tʃek/. Begin with the palatal approximant /tʃ/ as in chair, followed by the short, lax vowel /e/ (as in bed), and end with the voiceless velar stop /k/. In connected speech, you’ll often hear a quick, clean closure at the end. The syllable is monosyllabic with a strong, crisp onset and release. IPA: US/UK/AU /tʃek/. Mouth: tongue blade toward the alveolar ridge for /tʃ/, lips neutral, jaw slightly lowered, and the back of the tongue toward the soft palate for /k/. Audio reference: [open in your preferred pronunciation tool].
Common errors include voicing the final /k/ or turning it into /t/; adding extra vowel sounds like saying ‘cheh-ck’ or ‘ch-ECK-uh’; and misplacing the tongue for /tʃ/ resulting in a ‘sh’-like or /dʒ/ sound. To correct: keep the /tʃ/ blend crisp without voicing, end with a quick, voiceless /k/ release, and avoid inserting a schwa before the final stop. Practice by isolating /tʃ/ and /k/ with a short pause between, then blend into a single rapid, clean /tʃek/.”
Across US/UK/AU, /tʃek/ remains the same in vowels and consonants, but rhythm and vowel reduction can vary in connected speech. US tends to be a slightly more clipped /tʃ/ followed by a crisp /k/, UK can be marginally more precise in enunciation with less vowel reduction, and AU often features a slightly smoother transition with reduced vowel duration in fast speech. Overall, the core phonemes stay /tʃ/ and /k/, with minimal vowel quality shifts since the vowel is a short /e/ in all three. IPA: /tʃek/ for all three.
The difficulty comes from blending the affricate /tʃ/ with the voiceless /k/ in rapid speech, sometimes leading to a flapped or devoiced sound or a subtle vowel length difference. The short /e/ can be misarticulated as a more open or tense vowel, and some learners unintentionally vocalize the final consonant, creating /tʃeːk/ or /tʃɛkk/. Focus on a clean, unvoiced /k/ release after the /tʃ/ blend and keep the vowel controlled and short, then practice with minimal pairs like /tʃek/ vs /tʃeɡ/ to feel the stoppage.”
A distinctive feature is the rapid, unvoiced transition from the affricate /tʃ/ to the plosive /k/, which can blur in fast speech. You’ll want to maintain a crisp posture with a slight front-of-mouth concavity to ensure you don't lengthen the vowel or voice the /k/. Visualize the tongue moving from a high front position for /tʃ/ to a quick back-closure for /k/, with crisp airflow and no voicing on the release.
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- US: Slightly sharper, more clipped /tʃ/ and a quick /k/ release; maintain a non-rhotic, flat vowel in connected speech. IPA: /tʃek/. - UK: Maintain precise tongue contact for /tʃ/ and /k/, with less vowel reduction in careful speech; keep the final /k/ unreleased or lightly released depending on pace. - AU: Often slightly more relaxed articulation; hold the /tʃ/ sound slightly longer before the abrupt /k/ release in slower speech, but still crisp in fast speech; keep vowel short. IPA: /tʃek/.
Check derives from the Old English word scyccian, meaning to strike or to peck, and later evolved in Middle English to indicate restraining or checking a horse. The term likely joined the sense of controlling, limiting, or verifying a situation during the 14th to 15th centuries, influenced by the idea of checking the course or motion of something. In financial contexts, “check” (cheque) entered English via Old French cheque, from the Italian controllare, meaning to check or verify, reinforcing its core meaning of verification and control. Over time, “check” expanded to include examining a process, marking a tabulated item, and signaling a pause or halt in action. The historical development reflects a shift from physical restraint to cognitive and procedural verification in modern usage, with first known written attestations appearing in legal and commercial documents by the 15th century. Modern slang and computing contexts further broaden its reach to include status updates and status checks in digital environments." ,
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Words that rhyme with "check"
-eck sounds
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