TEE-spoon-fuhl
/ˈtiˌspunfəl/
teaspoonful is pronounced TEE-spoon-fuhl (/ˈtiˌspunfəl/). Teaspoonful refers to the amount contained by a teaspoon; a unit of volume typically used in cooking and medicine. It denotes a small, precise quantity and is often encountered in recipes or dosing instructions. The word combines warm, familiar imagery with a specific measure, making it useful in both casual and technical contexts.
Teaspoonful refers to the amount contained by a teaspoon; a unit of volume typically used in cooking and medicine. It denotes a small, precise quantity and is often encountered in recipes or dosing instructions. The word combines warm, familiar imagery with a specific measure, making it useful in both casual and technical contexts.
- You’ll often blend the middle syllable, saying ti-spun-fuhl instead of ti-spuːn-fəl; it should have a long /uː/ in the second syllable. - Another mistake is softening the final /l/; keep the light 'l' sound and release into /fəl/. - Finally, stress misplacement is common; keep primary stress on the second syllable: ti-SPUHN-fəl. Practice by chunking: tea + spoon + full, then blend with a focus on the long vowel, then the final l. Try slow enunciated drills and shadowing with a native speaker.
"Add a teaspoonful of sugar to balance the tartness."
"The pharmacist instructed him to take a teaspoonful every four hours."
"She stirred in a teaspoonful of vanilla extract for fragrance."
- Pronunciation: /tiˈspuːn.fəl/ (US) or /tiˈspuːn.fəl/ (UK/AU). Stress falls on the second syllable of teaspoon, with a clear 'spoon' segment followed by a reduced '-ful'. Start with /ti/ as in tea, then /ˈspuːn/ like spoon with a long oo, and end with /fəl/ (fuh l). You’ll hear a light schwa only if the speaker compresses lightly, but in careful speech it’s /fəl/. Audio resources: try online dictionaries or pronunciation platforms for native speaker models.
Common errors include: 1) Slurring the second syllable so it sounds like /tiˈspuːn-fəl/ with an indistinct middle; ensure the /spuːn/ is crisp. 2) Closing the vowel before /l/ to /l/ light, making /ˈspunful/ instead of /ˈspuːn.fəl/; keep the long /uː/ in spoon. 3) Misplacing stress as tea- or tea-spot; maintain primary stress on the second syllable through careful emphasis: ti-SPUHN-fəl. Use word-by-word shadowing with a native model to fix these.
In US English you’ll hear /tiˈspuːn.fəl/ with rhotic r-coloring of the 'r' not present here; the vowel in 'tea' is a long /iː/ sound. UK and AU accents preserve the same rhythm but may differ subtly in respiratory emphasis and syllable reduction; AU often sounds a touch looser with slightly brighter vowels and less vowel reduction in connected speech. The primary stress remains on the /spuːn/ syllable across these accents. Consistent use of IPA helps track these differences.
The difficulty lies in the three-syllable structure with a long vowel in the second syllable and a light, fast -ful ending. The middle /spuːn/ requires precise lip rounding and tongue elevation; the final /fəl/ requires a quick transition from a labiodental /f/ to the schwa-like /ə/ or /əl/ quality. Additionally, the combination of a short onset after a stress peak can tempt speakers to reduce the middle to /ˈspun/ unintentionally. Practice stopping the flow between /spuːn/ and /fəl/ clearly.
This word uniquely combines a common everyday noun with a measurement suffix, producing a three-syllable word that carries both lexical meaning and unit information. The tricky part is maintaining the long /uː/ in /spuːn/ and ensuring the final /fəl/ isn’t reduced in rapid speech. People often rush through the chain, collapsing /n.f/ or altering the 'spoon' length. Focus on separating /spuːn/ with a brief hold before the /fəl/ to preserve clarity.
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- US: rhoticity is minimal in this word; you’ll hear /tiˈspuːn.fəl/ with a strong long /uː/ in spoon. - UK: similar rhythm, but you may hear a slightly crisper consonant with a more precise /f/ and a slightly less aggressive vowel reduction, still three syllables. - AU: often more relaxed; keep the long /uː/ in /spuːn/ but be careful not to soften /spuːn/ into /spun/; retain the /fəl/ ending clearly. IPA references: /tiˈspuːn.fəl/ across accents. - Tip: practice with a mirror to monitor lip rounding and tongue height for /uː/ and /f/ transitions.
Teaspoonful is formed from teaspoon + -ful, where teaspoon is a compound of tea + spoon, historically linked to the practice of using a spoon-like utensil to measure tea or other substances. The noun teaspoon emerged in English by the 17th century as a small spoon used for stirring or tasting beverages. The suffix -ful indicates a quantity, translating roughly to ‘a full spoon of tea’ or ‘a spoonful of tea-like measurement’ in modern interpretation, though the unit’s primary usage shifted to general small measurements in cooking and pharmaceuticals. The spelling and pronunciation align with other -ful nouns (handful, mouthful), and the hyphenation has become conventional into the modern spelling teaspoonful, with pronunciation keeping the stress on the first syllable of teaspoon and a clear final -ful consonant cluster. First known uses appear in early English cookery texts and household manuals, reflecting the standardization of measurements in domestic contexts and the broader adoption of standard metric and imperial units over time.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "teaspoonful" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "teaspoonful" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "teaspoonful"
-ful sounds
-ull sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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