How to pronounce long
Say it like LAWNG. Long is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce long. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- LAWNG
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Long pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- LAWNGSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "aw" in law.
American vs British pronunciation of long
American and British speakers say long in essentially the same way: /lɔŋ/ in the US and /lɒŋ/ in the UK.
British respelling: LONG.
What does long mean?
- primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified“a long life”“a long boring speech”
- primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified“a long road”“a long distance”
- of relatively great height“a race of long gaunt men”“looked out the long French windows”
- desire strongly or persistently
- for an extended time or at a distant time“a promotion long overdue”“something long hoped for”
- for an extended distance
Where does long come from?
The word shows the regular historical change of a to o before certain consonant clusters such as ng (compare with other examples in Middle and Modern English such as bond, song, throng, and wrong).
Similar and opposite words
Opposite meaning
Words that rhyme with long
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of long.
Questions about saying long
How do you pronounce long?
Say LAWNG. The American pronunciation is /lɔŋ/. In British English it is /lɒŋ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in long?
Long is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: LAWNG.
Do Americans and Brits say long the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /lɔŋ/ and the British form is /lɒŋ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.