3 syllables: rest, au, rant. Stress on rest.
RES-tur-ahnt
/ˈɹɛstɚˌɑnt/
restaurant is pronounced RES-tur-ahnt (/ˈɹɛstɚˌɑnt/). It has three syllables (rest-au-rant), with the stress on "rest". As a noun, a noun referring to a place where meals are served to customers. It typically denotes a commercial dining establishment and can range from casual to formal. In everyday use, people may refer to a restaurant as a venue for eating out, often with attention to cuisine, atmosphere, and service.
nounA noun referring to a place where meals are served to customers. It typically denotes a commercial dining establishment and can range from casual to formal. In everyday use, people may refer to a restaurant as a venue for eating out, often with attention to cuisine, atmosphere, and service.
"We’ll meet at the restaurant on Main Street after work."
"The new Mediterranean restaurant has a great outdoor patio."
"She’s studying the menu at a fancy French restaurant."
The standard pronunciation is /ˈrɛs.təˌrɒnt/ (US/UK) with three syllables: res-ter-ont, stress on the first syllable. In many American varieties you’ll hear a light middle syllable and a clear final /nt/. The key is keeping the /t/ as a soft release from the schwa and avoiding an overly drawn-out middle vowel. Listen to native speech or a pronunciation resource and mimic the rhythm: RES-ter-ont.
Common errors include saying /ˈriːˈzʊrɑːnt/ by overemphasizing the first vowel, and running the middle syllable together as /ˈrɛsˌtərɑːnt/ with a reduced final segment. Another frequent slip is turning the /ˌt/ into a soft /ʃ/ or skipping the middle vowel entirely (res-ont). Correction tips: keep the middle vowel as a short schwa /ə/ or /ɪ/ depending on pace, stress the first syllable, and articulate a crisp /t/ then /r/ transition into /ɒ/ or /ɒn/ depending on accent. Practicing with minimal pairs helps stabilize the sequence.
US tends to reduce the second syllable slightly with a clear /ˈrɛs.tə.rɒnt/ and a strong initial stress. UK typically maintains the /ˈrɛs.tə.rɒnt/ pattern with less vowel laxing, and the final /nt/ is crisp. Australian speech mirrors UK rhotic tendencies but may exhibit a more centralized /ə/ in the second syllable. Across all, the main variants are rhoticity and vowel quality in the middle syllable; listen to region-specific recordings and imitate the mouth positions.
Difficulties stem from the three-syllable rhythm and the central schwa in unstressed syllables, plus the final /nt/ cluster that requires a clean stop after a quick vowel. Many learners misplace the primary stress or attempt to articulate the middle vowel as a full vowel instead of a quick, neutral schwa. Another challenge is the subtle disorder between the alveolar /t/ and alveolar /d/ in fast speech. Focus on preserving the triplet rhythm: RES-ter-ont, with a tight but relaxed middle vowel and crisp final /nt/.
In very fast, casual speech you might hear a reduction in the middle vowel making it sound like /ˈrɛs.tərænt/ with a schwa lowered or merged. However, most native speakers maintain a subtle /ə/ in the middle and keep the final /nt/ intact. The key to accuracy is maintaining the first syllable stress and avoiding vowel elongation in the middle. Practice with a slow cadence first, then speed up while keeping the same mouth positions.
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Restaurant comes from the French word restaurant, meaning ‘a restoring or refreshing thing,’ from the verb restaurer ‘to restore.’ The term appeared in 1765 in Paris as a price list for soups and ‘restoratives’ offered by a stall, then expanded to denote places serving meals. The modern sense as a commercial dining establishment emerged in the late 18th century, with English adoption occurring in the 19th century as dining out became more common. The root restaurer in French and justify the shift from ‘restorative foods’ to ‘places where meals are provided’ reflects a broad cultural move toward hospitality venues as social spaces. Over time, restaurant has retained its core sense but broadened to include varied formats (fast casual, fine dining) and cuisines worldwide, while the pronunciation has settled into a standard English stress pattern: re-STAUR-ant in most dialects.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "restaurant" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "restaurant"
-ant sounds
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