--- title: "How to pronounce tomato | Murmur" description: "Tomato has two CMUdict forms, tuh-MAY-toh (T AH0 M EY1 T OW2) and tuh-MAH-toh (T AH0 M AA1 T OW2); only the stressed vowel changes." canonical: "https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/tomato" --- [Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/)/[Pronunciation](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)/tomato Pronunciation · Everyday language # How to pronounce tomato Tomato has two CMUdict forms, tuh-MAY-toh (T AH0 M EY1 T OW2) and tuh-MAH-toh (T AH0 M AA1 T OW2); only the stressed vowel changes. [Buy $49](https://murmur-licenses.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/checkout)[Download free for Apple Silicon (3-day Pro trial)](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/latest)Intel Mac? [Download here](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/intel).Not sure? Apple menu > About This Mac shows your chip. Free plan with Kokoro voices, 3,000 characters a day · 3-day Pro trial, then $49 once ## The dictionary sound sequence CMUdict lists these 2 North American English pronunciations for **tomato**. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: **1** primary, **2** secondary, **0** unstressed. Dictionary variant 1 `T AH0 M EY1 T OW2` **Syllable estimate** 3 vowel nuclei **Primary stress** 2nd vowel position **Secondary stress** 3rd vowel position Dictionary variant 2 `T AH0 M AA1 T OW2` **Syllable estimate** 3 vowel nuclei **Primary stress** 2nd vowel position **Secondary stress** 3rd vowel position [Check tomato in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tomato). Syllable counts come from vowel tokens; CMUdict does not supply syllable boundaries here. Variant order follows the dictionary and does not rank correctness. This lexicon does not represent every accent or context. ## Use tomato in context Tomato is the textbook example of a word with two accepted pronunciations, usually the ay of day in the US and the ah of father in Britain. Both are in CMUdict, so a recording only needs to choose one and stay with it. 1. Slice one tomato thinly for each sandwich. 2. The tomato plants need water every evening. ### A practice cue Read both examples with the form you use at home, and keep it for every tomato that follows. ## Read the sound tokens Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of tomato. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the [CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A)](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aria/Papers/MastersThesis.pdf#page=115). `T`sound in **tea**consonant`AH`sound in **hut**vowel`M`sound in **me**consonant`EY`sound in **ate**vowel`OW`sound in **oat**vowel`AA`sound in **odd**vowel Take it to your next recording ## Make an audition worksheet Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. The two original sentences retain their normal spelling; this worksheet helps you review a recording rather than forcing a speech engine to use phonemes. Copying and downloading happen in your browser. No script upload or audio generation is needed. ## Dictionary source The phonemes on this page come from [CMU Pronouncing Dictionary](https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict). The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters. 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Murmur generates speech locally on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 as a beta. Try your audition sentences with your chosen model and voice, listen for pronunciation, and review the result before exporting. A dictionary sequence does not guarantee a model’s output. [Buy $49](https://murmur-licenses.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/checkout)[Download free for Apple Silicon (3-day Pro trial)](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/latest)Intel Mac? [Download here](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/intel).Not sure? Apple menu > About This Mac shows your chip.[Explore Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/?utm_source=pronunciation&utm_medium=pseo&utm_campaign=wave1&utm_content=tomato#product)[Get Murmur free by sharing it](https://www.murmurtts.com/free?utm_source=pronunciation&utm_medium=pseo&utm_campaign=wave1&utm_content=tomato)