English pronunciation · Words Starting with H
Hours Pronunciation
Hours is pronounced OW-erz, IPA /ˈaʊɝz/.
OW-erz
US /ˈaʊɝz/ · UK /ˈaʊəz/
Syllables: OW · erz (2 syllables, stress on syllable 1)
noun (plural): Periods of sixty minutes, and by extension the times during which something is open or worked.
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Hours in a Sentence
- The journey takes about four hours.
- Opening hours are shorter on Sundays.
- She worked long hours all through the winter.
Common Mispronunciations of Hours
Not HOW-erz
The h is silent. Hour, honour, honest and heir are the four everyday English words that drop it.
Not OR-z
The vowel is a full ow gliding into a weak er, so the word has two parts rather than one.
Tip: Because the h is silent, the article before it is an: an hour, not a hour.
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