# How do \*you\* pronounce "forte"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 20, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765 "2022-05-20T14:53:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/1 "2022-05-20T14:53:54Z")
As in That’s not my forte.
How do you pronounce it?
Like the Italian homograph forte, meaning “strong” (for-tay or for-tee)? Like the English word fort? Or with the French pronunciation (for)? Some other way?
I almost always hear it as for-tay, but I just say fort.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/2 "2022-05-20T14:54:27Z")
I know it’s _fort_, but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/3 "2022-05-20T14:56:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I know it’s _fort_ , but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise .
Same here.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/4 "2022-05-20T14:57:26Z")
It’s pronounced ‘for-tay’, the way regular people say it.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/5 "2022-05-20T14:57:33Z")
When I read the word the Italian pronunciation is the one which comes to mind, but I never speak the word so its actual pronunciation doesn’t matter.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/6 "2022-05-20T14:57:43Z")
I don’t think that there’s any one “right way” to say it. I do seem to recall being told by a teacher in my youth that it was properly pronounced fort, and I guess that imprinted because that’s how I’ve said it ever since.
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/7 "2022-05-20T14:57:50Z")
Me too.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/8 "2022-05-20T15:00:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I know it’s _fort_, but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise
Yep, same here.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/9 "2022-05-20T15:06:45Z")
I never had a clue it would be pronounce any other way than For-Tay as in Pianoforte. I learned it via Latin and Italian. Most people seem to use For-Tay.
Who exactly says it is suppose to be fôrt? I see both listed in Dictionaries.
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/10 "2022-05-20T15:07:23Z")
I learned the word through music, so it’s always been /ˈfɔɹtɛ/ to me.
Sorrry, for those who don’t know the International Phonetic Alphabet, that’s an unvoiced labiodental fricative consonant, a rounded open-mid back vowel, a voiced alveolar approximant consonant, an unvoiced alveolar plosive consonant, and an unrounded open-mid front vowel.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/11 "2022-05-20T15:13:24Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I never had a clue it would be pronounce any other way than For-Tay as in Pianoforte.
Those are, I believe, different words. The musical forte is always pronounced for-tay or something similar (as near as I can tell).
Here’s Merriam-Webster’s take on it:
> [@](#):
>
> In _forte_ we have a word derived from French that in its “strong point” sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated \ˈfȯr-ˌtā\ and \ˈfȯr-tē\ because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived [forte entry 2](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forte#h2). Their recommended pronunciation \ˈfȯrt, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word _le fort_ and would pronounce it more similar to English _for._ So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English \ˈfȯ-ˌtā\ and \ˈfȯt\ predominate; \ˈfȯr-ˌtā\ and \fȯr-ˈtā\ are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/12 "2022-05-20T15:15:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I know it’s _fort_ , but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise.
This. I know it’s not “correct” but it also doesn’t have people trying to correct me or thinking I’m talking about military bases.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/13 "2022-05-20T15:16:59Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> Sorrry, for those who don’t know the International Phonetic Alphabet, that’s an unvoiced labiodental fricative consonant, a rounded open-mid back vowel, a voiced alveolar approximant consonant, an unvoiced alveolar plosive consonant, and an unrounded open-mid front vowel.
I’m surprised everyone doesn’t know that.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/14 "2022-05-20T15:18:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I’m surprised everyone doesn’t know that.
On the off chance that’s not sarcasm, I’ve long advocated for IPA being taught in elementary schools.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/15 "2022-05-20T15:20:30Z")
**Pleonast** ’s IPA basically says “for-teh” with an “eh” at the end, not an “ay.” In Italian, it would be an /e/, which is like an “ay” except with the second half lopped off, so it’s not a diphthong.
For all practical purposes, the pronunciation of “forte” is “for-tay” in at least American English, because that’s how we say it here. It may originally have been “fort.” “Fort” may be more proper and the pronunciation you might use when speaking in higher diction situations and wanting to sound more academic, I suppose, but most everyone says “for-tay,” so “for-tay” it is, as far as I’m concerned. (And the dictionaries reflect that, giving it as the primary pronunciation.)
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/16 "2022-05-20T16:13:38Z")
I say “for-tay”. According to Oxford languages, both that and “fort” are correct.
How about “niche”? I think “neesh” is more correct but sounds too pretentious, so I say “nitch”. Again according to Oxford languages, both are correct.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/17 "2022-05-20T16:15:04Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#):
>
> I’ve long advocated for IPA being taught in elementary schools.
Since we live in a smart phone era, I’ve advocated for just having an audio sample that you can listen to. Best all around.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/18 "2022-05-20T16:22:09Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> > [@pulykamell](#):
> >
> > I know it’s _fort_ , but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise .
>
> Same here.
Yeppers.
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### Author:  [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/19 "2022-05-20T16:22:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I know it’s _fort_ , but I say _for-tay_ because nobody would understand me otherwise.
I’ve never had to say the word in public, but this is probably what I would do, too (depending on the audience).
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-forte/964765/20 "2022-05-20T16:23:05Z")
Depends on whether I mean _strong point_ (fort) or _loud_, musically speaking (for-tay).
In truth, I don’t find myself being called upon to pronounce it very often. If I encounter the word in my reading, my internal voice will be guided by context.
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