2 syllables: con, verts. Stress on con.
KAHN-vurts
/ˈkɑnvɚts/
converts is pronounced KAHN-vurts (/ˈkɑnvɚts/). It has two syllables (con-verts), with the stress on "con". Converts is the third-person singular noun form or a present-tense verb (depends on usage) meaning people or things that have changed their beliefs or systems, or the act of changing beliefs or systems. In general, it refers to a person who has adopted a different faith, opinion, or practice, or the process of doing so. The plural form is converts (pronounced with stress on the first syllable for the noun; the verb uses the typical -s ending).
Converts is the third-person singular noun form or a present-tense verb (depends on usage) meaning people or things that have changed their beliefs or systems, or the act of changing beliefs or systems. In general, it refers to a person who has adopted a different faith, opinion, or practice, or the process of doing so. The plural form is converts (pronounced with stress on the first syllable for the noun; the verb uses the typical -s ending).
"The converts gathered to celebrate their shared belief."
"She converts measurements from metric to imperial for the recipe."
"Religious converts often undergo a period of learning and adaptation."
Pronounce it as /kənˈvɜːts/ in US and UK accents, with the primary stress on the second syllable: con-VERTS. The initial schwa is relaxed, the middle vowel is a stressed mid-central to mid-back vowel, and final /ts/ is a crisp voiceless alveolar affricate. For audio reference, you can compare with native speaker examples on Pronounce or Forvo and mirror the mouth opening and tongue position for the /v/ and /ɜː/ sounds.
Common errors include misplacing stress (saying con-VERTS with the wrong emphasis) and mispronouncing the second syllable as a short /ɪ/ or /ə/. Another frequent mistake is shortening the final /ts/ to /t/ or omitting the /t/ sound in rapid speech. To fix: keep the /v/ as a voiced labiodental fricative, ensure the /ɜː/ vowel is long and tense, and finalize with a clear /ts/ cluster by stopping the air with the tongue tip behind the upper teeth.
In US English, the second syllable uses a stressed /ɜː/ (roughly /ɜr/ in rhotic accents) and the ending /ts/ is crisp. UK English tends to have a shorter, tenser /ɜː/ and a slightly more clipped /ts/; in Australian English, the /ɜː/ may be closer to /əː/ with a light r-colouring, and the overall rhythm is a touch flatter. Regardless of accent, the primary stress remains on the second syllable, but vowel quality and r-influence vary.
The difficulty comes from the mid-central vowel in the stressed syllable and the final /ts/ cluster in rapid speech, which can blend or drop. Non-native speakers often misplace the stress or substitute the /ɜː/ with /ɪ/ or /ɛ/ and soften the /t/ into a glottal stop. Practice isolating the middle vowel with a long quality and produce a crisp, voiceless /ts/ at the end, not a /t/ or /s/ alone.
The word has a predictable orthography but a non-obvious vowel in the stressed syllable that does not map to a simple spelling sound, as it uses /ɜː/ in many dialects. The presence of the /v/ after the first syllable also requires maintaining voicing through the transition to the open-mid back vowel; avoid post-vocalic voicing changes that blur the /v/ and /ɜː/ sequence.
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The word converts comes from Latin convertere, meaning to turn around or turn over. The Latin root is con- (together, with) plus vertere (to turn). In English, the noun form converts emerged by adding the -s pluralization and later the -s suffix for the verb third-person singular present tense. The sense related to turning beliefs or opinions developed as religious and ideological language evolved in Middle English and Early Modern English, where “convert” could denote turning to a new religion or belief system, or generally turning from one side to another. The early usage appears in religious and philosophical contexts in the 14th–16th centuries, expanding into secular usage for turning one’s views, practices, or loyalties. By the 17th–19th centuries, “convert” became common in missionary and reformist discourse, and modern usage includes both noun and verb forms, with the verb frequently appearing in present-tense third-person form converts, depending on subject pronoun. The plural converts for people who have converted or for the verbs in different tenses reflect standard English morphology.
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Words that rhyme with "converts"
-rts sounds
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