Heteronym
"Subject" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say SUB-jekt when it means a topic (noun), and sub-JEKT when it means to expose someone to something (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
SUB-jekt
a topic
“Math is my favorite subject.”
verb
sub-JEKT
to expose someone to something
“Don't subject him to that.”
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SUB-jekt | noun | a topic |
| sub-JEKT | verb | to expose someone to something |
"Subject" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say SUB-jekt when it means a topic (noun), and sub-JEKT when it means to expose someone to something (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced SUB-jekt, "subject" is a noun meaning a topic. For example: "Math is my favorite subject."
Pronounced sub-JEKT, "subject" is a verb meaning to expose someone to something. For example: "Don't subject him to that."
"Subject" 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 “subject”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.