2 syllables: con, cedes. Stress on cedes.
kuhn-SEEDZ
/kəˈnsidz/
concedes is pronounced kuhn-SEEDZ (/kəˈnsidz/). It has two syllables (con-cedes), with the stress on "cedes". Concedes is the verb form meaning grants or yields something after consideration or pressure. It typically appears in formal or legal contexts but is common in everyday debate, indicating a partial acknowledgment of a point. The word carries a sense of permitting an outcome or admitting a premise, often followed by a clause or concession.
Concedes is the verb form meaning grants or yields something after consideration or pressure. It typically appears in formal or legal contexts but is common in everyday debate, indicating a partial acknowledgment of a point. The word carries a sense of permitting an outcome or admitting a premise, often followed by a clause or concession.
"The company finally concedes that the project was overbudget."
"After a long argument, she concedes that his plan has some merit."
"The referee concedes a foul after reviewing the footage."
Pronounce it as kən-ˈsedz in US and UK variants, with the stress on the second syllable. Start with a neutral schwa, then a light ‘n’+’s’ blend leading into the stressed ‘sedz’ where the /s/ is unvoiced and the /dz/ mirrors a quick tick-tock sound, similar to 'sheds' but with a voiced dz at the end. Audio references: try Cambridge Dictionary or YouGlish for native pronunciations. IPA: US/UK/AU kən-ˈsedz.
Common errors include pronouncing the second syllable as ‘seed’ (con-seeds) instead of ‘sed’ with an unstressed ‘e’ sound, and misplacing the stress as on the first syllable (ˈkɔn-seds). Another pitfall is pronouncing the final cluster as ‘s’ only, missing the voiced dz sound. Correct by emphasizing the second syllable with a crisp /s/ followed by a voiced /dz/ blend: /kən-ˈsedz/.
US/UK/AU share the same phoneme sequence /kən-ˈsedz/, but rhoticity and vowel reductions can shift subtlely in fast speech. In non-rhotic UK accents, the r-less environment doesn’t affect this word much since it’s not rhotic; the second syllable retains /ˈsedz/. US rhotic varieties keep a clearer /ɹ/ in broader contexts, yet this word remains with a schwa-friendly initial syllable and a tense, clipped second syllable. Australians typically maintain /kən-ˈsedz/ with similar vowels but may be slightly flatter in vowel length.
The difficulty lies in the -edz final consonant cluster /dz/, which can blur with a simple /z/ or /s/ in quick speech, and the unstressed first syllable; you must maintain a clear schwa /ə/ before the stressed /ˈsedz/. The transition from the alveolar /n/ to the /s/ and then to the voiced /dz/ requires precise timing and a firm but relaxed tongue to avoid sounding like /kən-sɛdz/ or /kən-zɛdz/.
No, the e is not silent. In concedes, the vowel sound in the second syllable is an /e/ represented by /e/ in the phonetic chain; the final sound is a voiced /dz/ after the /s/. The spelling reflects a pronunciation where the second syllable carries the decisive /sedz/ sound, and the trailing -es contributes the /z/ or /dz/ blend, depending on surrounding phonology. For pronunciation practice, focus on /kən-ˈsedz/ rather than silent-e expectations.
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Concedes comes from Latin concedere, meaning to yield, grant, or relinquish. The root con- means together or with, and -cedere means to go, yield, or give way. The term entered English through Old French into Middle English, retaining its sense of yielding or granting after negotiation or argument. The form concedes (present tense, third-person singular) developed from the Latin past participle concessus, with the English verb adopting the -es inflection for third-person singular in the 16th-17th centuries as standardization of spelling and conjugation occurred. Historically, concede was used in debate, law, and governance to indicate partial acceptance of an argument or a stipulation, and concedes as a noun historically exists mainly in legal or formal phrasing as a concession. Over time, concedes broadened with usage in sports commentary and journalism to signal acknowledgment of a competing point or eventual surrender in a competitive context. The progression mirrors a shift from the legalistic act of granting to a more general act of acknowledging a truth or altering a stance in ongoing discourse.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "concedes" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "concedes"
-des sounds
-eds sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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