Heteronym
"Present" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say PREZ-ent when it means a gift, or now (noun), and prih-ZENT when it means to give or show formally (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
PREZ-ent
a gift, or now
“She opened her present.”
verb
prih-ZENT
to give or show formally
“He will present the award.”
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PREZ-ent | noun | a gift, or now |
| prih-ZENT | verb | to give or show formally |
"Present" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say PREZ-ent when it means a gift, or now (noun), and prih-ZENT when it means to give or show formally (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced PREZ-ent, "present" is a noun meaning a gift, or now. For example: "She opened her present."
Pronounced prih-ZENT, "present" is a verb meaning to give or show formally. For example: "He will present the award."
"Present" 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 “present”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.