Is “february” two, three or four syllables?
“february” has 2 or 3 or 4 syllables, depending on how you say it. Most dictionaries count 4. FEB-yoo-air-ee (4) vs UK FEB-ree (2) / FEB-ruh-ree (3).
Every pronunciation, counted
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEB-yuh-wair-ee | /ˈfɛb.jə.ˌwɛɹ.i/ | f eh b · y ah · w eh r · iy | 4 | CMU dictionary |
| FEB-roo-air-ee | /ˈfɛb.ɹu.ˌɛɹ.i/ | f eh b · r uw · eh r · iy | 4 | CMU dictionary |
| FEB-ree | /ˈfɛb.ɹi/ | f eh b · r iy | 2 | Wiktionary (UK) |
| FEB-ruh-ree | /ˈfɛb.ɹə.ɹi/ | f eh b · r ah · r iy | 3 | Wiktionary (UK) |
| FEB-yuh-wair-ee | /ˈfɛb.jə.ˌwɛɹ.i/ | f eh b · y ah · w eh r · iy | 4 | Cambridge (UK) |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Why the count varies
Us vs uk -ary / -ory endings. American English keeps a full vowel in -ary/-ory/-erry (SEK-ruh-terr-ee); British English reduces or drops it (SEK-ruh-tree), so the count differs by accent.
What the dictionaries say
- Cambridge (UK) /ˈfeb.ru.ᵊr.i/
- Cambridge (US) /ˈfeb.ruː.er.i/, /ˈfeb·juˌer·i/
- Wiktionary /ˈfɛb.ɹʊ.ə.ɹi/ (UK), /ˈfɛb.j(ʊ.)ə.ɹi/ (UK), /ˈfɛb.ɹə.ɹi/ (UK), /ˈfɛb.ɹi/ (UK)
For haiku, sonnets and song lyrics
For haiku, sonnets and other syllable-counted verse, 'february' is safest as 4 syllables, the count most dictionaries give. Poets have also used it as 2 syllables or 3 syllables; either scans if the line is read naturally, but say which you mean if the count matters (haiku judges usually accept the dictionary count).
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Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, checked against Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary transcriptions. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.