[General] Often

Status
Not open for further replies.

dina89

New member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Is often pronounced as (off-hen) or (off-ten) because I heard both of them and they are confusing me too much
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Dictionaries give both forms as correct. Words can have different pronunciations in different regions/countries.
 

billmcd

Key Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I'll live in the "t" is silent region.
 

Linguist__

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
I think I say both, but which one I say doesn't rely on context or anything like that. It's just whatever comes out in speech. Either is correct.
 

Mr. Spivey

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Member Type
Other
A lot of times, people who enunciate the 't' in 'often' are attempting to appear smart or educated. It's an intentional enunciation. "Offen" is generally accepted as the right way to say it, though, so the attempted show of intelligence strikes one as ironic.
 

Mohammadhelmi

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Israel
Current Location
Israel
both pronunciations are correct
 

bds51

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Germany
Is often pronounced as (off-hen) or (off-ten)? If you remove the 'h' you've added to the first pronunciation, then both [off en] and [off tin] or [off ten] are all correct. The silent 't' is more common in the US and Canadians tend to pronounce it either way. I agree there are some native speakers who pronunce the 't' as a way of impressing others.
bds
 

Williamyh

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2009
Member Type
Other
Is often pronounced as (off-hen) or (off-ten) because I heard both of them and they are confusing me too much

There are a lot of different pronunciations for "Often", if you would like to know all of them, I suggest you to buy the Oxford or Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, they will show you all different pronunciations for "Often", as I know there are at least 8 different pronunications for "Often"....here are some pronunciation from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, you may take it for references :

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition often
[FONT=&quot]BrE [FONT=&quot]/
ˈɒfn [FONT=&quot]/

[FONT=&quot]NAmE [FONT=&quot]/
ˈɔːfn [FONT=&quot]/
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]NAmE [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT]ˈɑːfn [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]BrE [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT]ˈɒftən [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]NAmE [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT]ˈɔːftən [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]NAmE [FONT=&quot]/ [/FONT]ˈɑːftən [FONT=&quot]/[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[/FONT]
 

leonwool

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
You said that you have heard the word 'often' pronounced with and without a 't' sound. It is accepted as correct both ways. It depends on the region. Dalziel (His name is not pronounced as you might expect) From BBC's Dalziel and Pascoe pronounces the 't' in often but I don't. We both have British accents but his is a West country accent. Most peope will drop the 't' in often . Without knowing how you speak , I'd suggest that you drop the 't' and concur with the majority.

There are many different English accents. There are broadly speaking, around 12 clearly identifiable accents in Britain. There's more diversity within Britain than outside Britain. The most extreme accents being Rab-C Nesbitfrom Glasgow (Search You-Tube) and the Newcastle accent from the North East of England.

If you would like to learn any of these accents then I could offer to teach you from a book called "Accents for actors"

Regards Leon Wooldridge
 
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
A lot of times, people who enunciate the 't' in 'often' are attempting to appear smart or educated. It's an intentional enunciation. "Offen" is generally accepted as the right way to say it, though, so the attempted show of intelligence strikes one as ironic.
That's true I hear that in my work a lot of more than in the streets.
 

Teia

Key Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Romanian
Home Country
Romania
Current Location
Romania
Hi Leon

Your thorough explanation is really interesting especially for people [ like me, for instance ] who don`t have much knowledge regarding the diverse accents in English. However, how do professors from Cambridge or Oxford pronounce this word - often ?

Thank you very much in advance.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top