Heteronym
"Contract" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KON-trakt when it means a formal agreement (noun), and kun-TRAKT when it means to shrink, or catch an illness (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
KON-trakt
a formal agreement
“Sign the contract here.”
verb
kun-TRAKT
to shrink, or catch an illness
“Metal will contract in the cold.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| KON-trakt | noun | a formal agreement |
| kun-TRAKT | verb | to shrink, or catch an illness |
"Contract" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KON-trakt when it means a formal agreement (noun), and kun-TRAKT when it means to shrink, or catch an illness (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced KON-trakt, "contract" is a noun meaning a formal agreement. For example: "Sign the contract here."
Pronounced kun-TRAKT, "contract" is a verb meaning to shrink, or catch an illness. For example: "Metal will contract in the cold."
"Contract" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “contract”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.