Heteronym
"Graduate" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say GRAJ-oo-it when it means someone who has completed a course of study (noun), and GRAJ-oo-ayt when it means to complete a course of study (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
GRAJ-oo-it
someone who has completed a course of study
“She is a college graduate.”
verb
GRAJ-oo-ayt
to complete a course of study
“He will graduate in May.”
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GRAJ-oo-it | noun | someone who has completed a course of study |
| GRAJ-oo-ayt | verb | to complete a course of study |
"Graduate" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say GRAJ-oo-it when it means someone who has completed a course of study (noun), and GRAJ-oo-ayt when it means to complete a course of study (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced GRAJ-oo-it, "graduate" is a noun meaning someone who has completed a course of study. For example: "She is a college graduate."
Pronounced GRAJ-oo-ayt, "graduate" is a verb meaning to complete a course of study. For example: "He will graduate in May."
"Graduate" 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 “graduate”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.